Hello i am new here. But, i dabble in iron forging and leatherworking. i have a anvil that i would like help identifying.  I know it is a london pattern anvil but i would like to know maker.

Body is cast iron does it have a steel plate on the face? It's looking like a low grade anvil to me. Any chance of better pictures?

Note that location makes a big difference---if I was asking about a used car with poor pictures knowing where in the world it was would sure help differentiate between a Citroen, Fiat, Lada, Ford, etc...

i can see a line where it appears to have a had a steel plate welded to the face. it rings pretty well and has nice rebound.

Welcome to the forum.

We still do not know where in the world you and your anvil are located. There are members on here from over 150 countries.

If you edit your profile to show your location you may be surprised how many members are near enough to take a close look at your anvil. As Thomas said answers are location dependent.

If you take a wire wheel and clean off the sides a logo may appear. A word of warning though don't do any grinding or welding on it which would ruin the face. How much does it weigh and some measurements of the face & horn will also help.

That is a cast anvil. Clean an area on the face and do a rebound test to see if it is cast iron or cast steel. Cast steel is much better than cast iron or what we call an ASO.  It is very common for cheaper cast anvils to have what appears to be a face plate in the casting.

Often egregiously larger than a real faceplate would be.  I've seen "fake" face plates twice the thickness of the one on my 400+ pound trenton.

i get about 50% rebound. it doesn't sound "dead" either. i am located in southwest Missouri and the anvil was acquired from a Amish family 50 miles from my house. im thinking even if it is cast iron i can at least use it to make my tools until i can afford something nicer.

50% is pretty dead; just wait till you get one that rockets a missed blow up and hits your head!  But yes definitely use it to pieces. One trick is that every time you sell something made with that anvil you put a dollar in the "Next Anvil" kitty so you will be ready to jump on a good deal.  Also look into the TPAAAT as you are in a great area for it. I've turned up several nice anvils just asking around at my church(s). (yup S as we have one at each of my locations). And remember *everybody*; one was a 92 year old lady who had a nice anvil out in her shed...

10 hours ago, GoblinForge said:

i am located in southwest Missouri

Once we leave this thread, we will not remember your location, hence the suggestion to edit your profile.

How did you test the rebound? A 1 inch ball bearing dropped from 10 inches is the most accurate way (after the rust is cleaned off with a wire wheel).

I think you have a good plan to use this anvil and save money for a better one.  That's exactly what I did. I had one almost identical to yours that I started with.  Mine was so poor quality that it had cast marks down the horn, but the face seemed not to be cast iron and my anvil was old enough to have a decent patina.  I got it for free to borrow from my Dad so I couldn't complain and it did work.  What Thomas says is no exaggeration!  The first time I forged on my new to me German Trenton anvil I couldn't believe how much it rebounded and much better if moved metal.  Some guys start out using sledge hammer heads, so you at least have an anvil albeit a lower quality one.