This must be made of gold. 126 lb anvil - $1200 

Craigslist link removed

...What about this one ?

 

Is that Canadian amount,,  reads $ 275.00  to me , but im not familiar with Canadian currency,, 275 @ approx. 5# = $55.00 per pound,, that's alot

There are some beat up PWs in our area that are for sale for about that much. Folks is crazy.

You can buy a bigger new anvil for that price,  anvilbrand.com has JHM's which are nice anvils. 

Check Knoxville CL if you want a good laugh. 

Found on an internet flea market. This high quality handcrafted anvil can be yours for mere 35€, or 8.75€/kg!

My Dad and I had a conversation about anvil prices the other day and he remembers when you couldn't hardly get a bid on an anvil when they came up at auctions.  Guys were picking them up for $50 or less and if they were too large to move they went for less.  My uncle bought every one he had a chance to do, but nobody knows or wants to admit where all the anvils went.  Anyways, it makes me laugh to see some of these listings.

I think though that the market is driven higher because people are unwilling to wait to find a decently priced anvil.  They want an anvil NOW and not 2 months from now because they want to make swords and knives like they see on FIF on the History Channel.  So, sellers are selling anvils of all kinds at those prices.  I used a borrowed junky anvil until I could find a decent one at a decent price.  Like others have said, I think when FIF goes off the air there will be a influx of forging tools, anvils, and forges that hit the market at cheap prices.  We'll all be ready to harvest the reward of waiting it out.

 

Ebay has a small PW 86 lb asking US $625. That is 4 times the going price for you and twice the price for Australia

Surely the bladesmithing programs have an influence on the market. Proof is the number of people who think blacksmithing is making knifes. However, I wouldn't hold my breath for prices to drop. 

Bladesmithing had a resurgence like cooking had based on cooking shows. The difference is that anyone has access to a kitchen and people willing to try your work. "Making knifes" is a bit more complicated. 

I would like to see people interested in blacksmithing work that does not mention blades of any description. That would be refreshing and a welcome change. The market at least in Australia is hungry for locally handcrafted items. Wooden items of very poor quality go like hot cakes here. A blacksmith making everyday stuff can sell whatever he makes at good prices. But if you talk to someone about taking up blacksmithing you get the usual conspiratorial smile and nudge ... do you make knives? 

I don't know about your guy's areas but I live just outside of an urban jungle so to get anvils is a ton of work looking, calling and driving not to mention they are heavy. I get it if you live in the sticks and all your neighbors have barns and one out of every 10 has an old anvil but not by me. I only say this because when I sell an anvil and someone complains about the price I tell the people to do the work i do to get it then talk.

Big cities probably had more anvils then the country did. Manufacturing vs farming.

One on my local craigslist that a friend had looked at previously and passed on from a previous seller. No ring or rebound and had probably been in a fire. Someone else must have bought it and is selling in CL  300lb for $1500. With a large chunk broken off the faceplate in the sweet spot. 

Biggundoctor you may be right, Had is the keyword WWII sent many to the scrap yard for the war effort I spend a lot of time looking and they are just not that common anymore

Well, the prices on the old ones are almost getting outrageous enough to just buy a new superior quality anvil. There are still many old ones out there to be had for a decent price tho. 

I've decided if I am ever going to spend $500 or more it will be a new one.

On 12/26/2017 at 12:13 PM, Marc1 said:

Ebay has a small PW 86 lb asking US $625 location Weimar California.

Funny, that's not far from me. In fact, I go through Wiemar once a week on my pool cleaning route. I have a pretty good idea of where it is, there's only about 10 houses and a small trailer park in Wiemar...

Back in the old days *every* factory maintenance dept had at least one complete forge in it and for heavy industry a whole lot more!  My great uncle in law told us about forging items at the sugar refinery he used to work at and a glass factory had anvils, forge and a powerhammer; Shoot I bought a 6" postvise from an Auto Repair company that had been in the same building since 1918!  The anvil went for too much... (They had a complete old fashioned wood shop too as the bodies of the early cars were made from wood...) 90% of my current total anvil weight was purchased inside city limits of Columbus Ohio. So not only farms and mines and quarries and ships; but factories and sugar refineries, plate glass factories and old auto repair. Shoot Ohio Tool used to use prisoners to forge their tools.  I bought "The American Prison, from the beginning...A Pictorial History" just for the pictures of  large rooms with a bunch of forges---at least 3 different institutions are shown.  And not only prisons; most large institutions had blacksmithing equipment as they were often fairly independent raising their own food and taking care of the physical plant. (The old insane asylum on the west side of Columbus Ohio had a very nice machine shop for instance---I went to the auction before the demolition just to tour the place freely!)

I was at my local scrapyard and picked up a #5 (50 pound) Vulcan for US$20 last Saturday! (And was given a pair of tongs.)

On 12/26/2017 at 3:39 PM, Timber Ridge Forge said:

I don't know about your guy's areas but I live just outside of an urban jungle so to get anvils is a ton of work looking, calling and driving not to mention they are heavy.

My brother is an architect and lives in a posh suburb in an apartment. Last time I visited he had a 40k anvil sitting on a bookshelf.

Anvils can be anywhere

15 hours ago, dogsdayforge said:

Funny, that's not far from me. I have a pretty good idea of where it is, there's only about 10 houses and a small trailer park in Wiemar...

Mm ... opportunity calls!  NOT

9 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

The old insane asylum on the west side of Columbus Ohio had a very nice machine shop for instance

You don't have to be insane to be a machinist -- but it helps!

8 hours ago, Marc1 said:

My brother is an architect and lives in a posh suburb in an apartment. Last time I visited he had a 40k anvil sitting on a bookshelf.

I dragged my 148 lb. Mousehole from NYC apartment to NYC apartment for twenty-some years before I finally moved out to Ohio and had the space to set up a forge again! 

I traded a 125# PW (plus a postvise screw and screwbox, plus US$100 "boot") to a fellow for his 410# Trenton once as he was tired of dragging it from rental place to rental place.  I was happy to move it 1500 miles when I moved.

HB  208#  $1850.00,, yet another CL listing, 

28 minutes ago, Reeltree said:

HB  208#  $1850.00,, yet another CL listing, 

An Art Deco masterpiece from the golden age of streamlining.

Reel tree I can beat that a guy in springfield il wants 5k yes 5k for this

On 12/23/2017 at 2:08 PM, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

  anvilbrand.com has JHM's which are nice anvils. 

I just picked up a brand new JHM Legend (215 #) for under a grand from a farrier company here in Colorado.

I've seen "boat anchor" anvils in antique stores that are being sold for what i paid for new. Ridiculous.

Unbelievable,, I see people advertising  , "wanting to buy anvils" , just to hike them up and unload on the unsuspecting .

Makes you want to follow with your own ad  with links to  say  JHM and others with price differences,,  Im on the verge of doing so.,