This anvil & stand is up for auction near Seattle.

220 lbs, & 22” x 6” is the only description provided. The current bid is at $500 USD.

I’ve got a friend looking for an anvil and I wonder if this might be a good one to tell him about, or is it just an ASO?

Anyone recognize this?

thank you.

It appears to be a cast iron ASO, I wouldn't tell a friend to bid on it unless you can verify that it is a real anvil.

Or unless you’re looking for a way to end the friendship. 

It certainly appears to be cast, and as it has the weight in both lbs and kg, I would susspect a relatively recent one. So why do we think it is cast iron rather than cast steel?

Because of the raised lettering/numbers vs stamped? That is what made me suspect ASO. But the bidding started at $100 and quickly went to $500 with a week to go in the auction. That made me wonder if there was something I was missing, so I decided to ask the experts...

thank you.

A lot of people thinks that an auction is the place to make great deals... it's often the opposite !

Yeah I wouldn't think that recommending this is a good idea. It looks cast and the face plate on some of the newer cast anvils are made of steel that is too soft. You should be able to find anvils for about 500 that would last a lot longer than this one would (probably with better rebound too). Not to mention the stand is too tall so that would need to be replaced.

The stand is NOT an anvil stand. Any price should only include it at scrap rate...

Why do we guess cast iron vs cast steel? Most anvils produced today are cast iron or malleable iron at the best. If a company was making *good* cast steel anvils someone here would most likely know about it! If they are producing a good steel anvil what did they make such a poor shape, that horn is an abomination!

Thank you Thomas that is the information that the was required to define the likelyhood of iron or steel cast anvil. It is so striking different in appearance to say a cast steel Brooks, but the inexperienced would not now that.

4 hours ago, Smoggy said:

but the inexperienced would not know that.

And that's why the bidding is up to $500.

Since it's fairly modern, I would expect that a maker who desires to put out a good product would have branded it with a logo or name...and one which is putting out junk would avoid that.  No, it's not a "rule" and there are a LOT of exceptions but that itself should be at least a hint toward potential quality.

I wouldn't touch it at more than a buck a pound without a look-see and proper rebound-test.  At a buck a pound, even an ASO could probably be passed on to someone who just needs a beating surface or decoration.  The current $ 2.27/lb is pushing it rather hard on a "guess" about quality.   

That same $ 2.27/lb could buy one a heck of a good non-ASO in hard material at the junk yard...your friend would just have to get the notion that a workable anvil has to look like an anvil out of his head.

4 hours ago, John in Oly, WA said:

And that's why the bidding is up to $500.

Now it’s up to $725 with 3+ days to go in the auction. (Not including the 15% buyers premium). 

Like I said, it looked like an ASO to me, but the bidding war was perplexing. I guess there are a lot of inexperienced, that don’t understand the value of doing a little research and asking some questions before bidding..

Interesting that folks would pay that much for what is clearly the ugliest anvil on the market. You can buy the exactly same "anvil" from Grizzly Tools or Record for less than half the price.

"That horn is an abomination" ha ha Thomas, you are right, and it shows up everywhere. There must be someone in China making a wooden model to cast and Shanghaiing people into using it as the coolest one ever ...

Auction fever at its finest. You should see them bidding on old crock ware and longaberger baskets and such.   least the buyer might Use the anvil...

Dad took me to lots of auctions when I was a kid to inoculate me to auction fever. My first auction in Alaska was a police impound auction. I was thinking maybe a pistol or hunting rifle IF they didn't go too high. What a laugh that idea was people were going to get a deal no matter what it cost. Later I checked gun shops, the .357 revolvers that were going in the $800+ range at the auction were $335. - $375 new at the gun shop. I saw pieces of bicycles with Schwinn on them going for more than brand new bikes. The police auctions didn't have shills working them or at least they were less than obvious. Now the shills might as well wear strobe lights and PA systems.

I can't stand to go to auctions anymore.

Frosty The Lucky.

I have got some good tack and horses at auctions in the past, but I know what I am looking at, know the market value and have set a hard walk away point. Stock  auctions are a bit different, as the auctioneers tend to have faverite sellers who are there all the time, ther eithe ones the auctioneer dwells on and usualy have their kids or grand kids ridding dropped horses. The bargains come when you have access to the horses before hand, as often the privat sellers only get 30 seconds. 

Oh I love a good auction/ auctioneer. As Charles said tho, set your price and be ready to walk away.