it is stamped 1914 on the other foot oposite of the z it has an hour glass indentation on the bottom of anvil with a square hole in the anvil in the bottom and there are also two square hole s running in each end of the anvil it seems to be one piece steel anvil

Most likely a Trenton, can you post a closeup pic of the serial number area?  Guessing there are more digits than "1914" from that base style....

thats all i could make out i did see usa lightly above the 1

i am just worried i paid too much for the anvil

 

It's a good anvil in good using condition; not knowing what country you are in of the 100+ that participate here I can't give any suggestions on prices.

If it's a sunk cost stop worrying and make stuff on it and "pay it off".

i paid $300 for it i have been looking for a long time for a decent anvil and i am in pennsylvania

 

 

 

What's the weight? Around $3. Lb. for a pretty decent anvil in at least my area of south western PA. isn't bad. And you wanted one so use it and if you get decent you sure can make your money back using it. Plus it's a tool that you shouldn't be able to wear out in your lifetime if you are doing things right. 

its 100 lbs like a said i live in south western pa and the price of anvils are asinine

 

Well I don't think you paid too much for a good usable anvil. I have seen what people are paying or trying to sell them for. Not to mention the condition of some. 

My latest was a 100# mouse hole for $200 at a very small auction that I figured was worth giving a shot at. Last auction before that with an anvil it was around a 50-70# in poor condition and it went higher then that. Even more rare to catch a good one on cl with a fair price. 

You got it, now use it   

still working on getting some tongs and hammers i have been looking everywhere

Funny all the blacksmithing and farrier supply companies I know of have on-line catalogs full of such things; Blacksmithing conferences tend to have such things both new and used (and for one's like Quad-State by the metric ton!)  Finding them at fleamarkets, garage sales and junk stores tends to take more leg work.  Asking around at your local affiliate meeting can often pay off. Of course one of the worst places to look is on-line---unless you like paying top prices!

Well fleamarket season is about done for. Could always pick up a harbor freight hammer and dress the face on it to get started. I started with vicegrips and hated using them for forging. Then slowly picked up a couple pair that got me going somewhat. Now that I can make my own I tend to find them here and there and only buy if priced low. The ones I've made are "functional" lol. You can also start out with longer stock to not need tongs so much. If you want, stop down some time, bring a case of yuengling and I'll show you how to make some tongs.

My general rules for tongs are: if they are usable and US$5 or below; buy them. If they are $8-$5 buy them if they are a size I use a lot of or are in beautiful condition. Over US$10 takes a very special need for me to buy them; (I mean I bought a set of titanium tongs at Quad-State once for $10...)  Over the years the tong rack slowly fills...

Worth remembering the "Lou Rule" (formulated by @Lou L): When you're starting out, decent tongs are a better investment than a fancy anvil.

Sounds about where I'm at with tong buying Thomas. 

 

 

You could always fall back on reddening some metal and making some. After a minimum of research after getting your head and fingers around the vagaries and anomalies of this forums workings- smacking some steel into various shapes will be a pleasure- guaranteed.

3 hours ago, Metalmaster01 said:

its 100 lbs like a said i live in south western pa and the price of anvils are asinine

 

A good anvil you have there. If you have read any of the anvil threads, I'm sure you have heard about not grinding on the anvil face to shine it up thereby ruining it.

Another thing if you will go to your profile and edit it to show your location, it will be in every post and we won't have to continually ask you "where you at"... because as soon as we move to another thread we will have forgotten this post.

Funny that my most used and loved set cost me US$1.50; a set of snub nosed, short reined, shoeing tongs set at 1/4" that are great for working 1/4" knife stock! (South High Fleamarket, Columbus Ohio, early 1990's...)

The last count of tongs I took was 102 pair (not counting the damaged ones), I usually only use about 4 of them consistently.

On the other hand those "once in a blue moon" tongs can sure come in handy---once in a blue moon!

I have more hammers than tongs...I'm sure that says something about me---if nothing else: *Don't show up at my smithy looking like a nail!*

I guess I don’t go to the right flea markets...or, Connecticut is a tong desert.  They are hard to find and, when you do see them, people add blacksmith to the tag and charge big bucks.  I am psyched to see a pair of $15-20 tongs.  I usually don’t buy them because I’m cheap and idealistic and tell myself I can make them (starting to feel confident with tongs).  BUT, having solid, recent memories of being totally new to forging, my worst memories are all about dealing with the wrong tongs, feeling unsafe and having simple things take way too long.  I still argue that everything else in forging can be done on the cheaply to great effect (hot fire, chunk of metal anvil)...but tongs done cheaply is dangerous and kills your learning curve.  There are still projects I won’t do because I lack the tongs.  When I make the tongs for them I know I really want to do the project!

its like that around me too

 

 

It looks like some more numbers to the right of the "Z", maybe a 3 and a 5 or 6?

from everything i have found out so far seems to point to pre 1901 trenton

Out here at the fleamarket I like the best I seem to get 1 pair a year.  Last two years was a very light pair of round bit shoeing tongs ($5) and a massive heavy commercial pair for 1.5" round stock ($8). (Someday there will be power to my power hammer!!!!!)  The amusing part was both were from dealers NOT selling tools or old tools; perhaps why the prices were decent...

Back in Ohio the hit ratio was immensely higher...even in the city!

 

I stopped by the most pathetic looking little flea market in Granville, OH a few months ago and got a really nice little pair of flat-bit tongs (and a cheapo pair of Chinese vise-grip knockoffs) for five bucks. Just gotta keep your eyes open and keep moving if you don't see what you want.