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Posted

I'm trying to find a home for this beautiful anvil.  It seems to be in very good shape from ones I have seen.  not sure how much I should get for it I've seen such a variety of prices.  how do you price them?  how do I know I'm getting what I should?  I'm a young woman and don't want to get ripped off..  the bottom has 1882 on it and an eagle on the side and fisher on the other.  A gentlemen I reached out to who runs a anvil museum offered $300.  I just feel like it's a low blow.  Can anyone help me out?

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Posted

Price depends on several factors. The type of anvil, the region where it is being sold, its condition,  weight, etc. It looks like it is in decent shape. If you have more pics of the other surfaces, and put your location in your signature, someone here will be able to give you some good info on value.

Posted

If you click on your user name in the top right corner, you can select your profile, then edit it to add your location and other info. Some of the others will chime in with suggestions on things to read about this site and the rules here. Welcome!

Posted

Ahh! I found it thank you.  I'll put the little man down and get some pictures with different angles.  thanks so much for the help! :)

it's 70lbs 

Posted

so $300 for 70lbs average (looking) condition.  Could be junk if its been through a fire and lost its rebound don't know unless checked in person.

 

 General average price today is $3 to $4 per lb.  You were offered over $4.29 per lb.  That is a really good price.  You could take your chances and put it on ebay and try to get $5 per lb and then pay commission on the sale, have the hassle of crating it up and shipping it.

I pass on any anvil over $3 per lb here in NY.  $2 is my top range.  So I would offer maybe $150 for your anvil, possibly $200 is it had great rebound and I felt like spending that day.

 

Posted

Ok. So you have been offered about $4.29lb. for it.  It's a fisher so generally if it hasn't been in a fire it's a good anvil. Did the gentleman do a rebound test? 

I'm in the same boat as Rob. $2. Is my max price unless it's something special. Between $2-4. Lb. is a fair price and there are those that "try" to sell them for higher but unless it were mint or a collectors piece, they sit around a long while. Northeast US isn't an anvil poor area as much as out west. So unless you feel like doing a lot more work and waiting I think you were offered a fair price in my opinion.

 

Posted

Thanks for the help everyone!  I was a little confused the museum my boyfriend talked to quoted between 200-300. And I gentlemen from Maine was the one to make the offer.  He's willing to meet us halfway and pay $250. (which is fantastic because I didnt really want to take a 6hour trip with a 3month old lol) He is a dealer and has an antique shop so I don't think he would sell it as a working anvil (he never mentioned anything about a rebound test).  What exactly is a rebound test? Should I try to find someone in my area who can do a rebound test before i take they drive and have this gentlemen not be interested?

my boyfriend said the gentlemen from the museum was very helpful

Posted

Rebound test is easy... you just need a steel ball bearing and a ruler. (I use a 1" dia ball bearing but anything close will do). hold the bearing 10 inches above the face of the anvil and drop it. hold the ruler in place as you do this and note how high it bounces... if you drop it from 10" and it bounces back to 8", you have 80% rebound. 7" = 70%, and so on. Repeat this all over the face to see if you have any dead spots. You can tell the buyer what the results are before you drive down and see if he is still interested. Good luck.

Posted

Rebound test is dropping a ball bearing from 10" above the face and measuring the height it bounces back up to then stated as a percentage. Say it rebounds back 8" that would be 80%

hmmm. So you have to Drive 3 hours to sell it? If you list it on your local CL for $250 someone would come to You to buy it. Heck you'll be Paying for fuel and time to deliver so offer it for $200. On cl and you'll get about the same amount and not have to road trip with the 3 month old. 

It Is a usable anvil provided decent rebound. A lighter one for smaller work or travel anvil. 

Posted

Too bad you are not located out here on the west coast... $6-$8 a lb is common, it seems, for anvils in my neck of the woods. But they are much harder to find than they are back east... Good for sellers, not so much for buyers.

Posted

Fishers are great anvils. My 260# Fisher was made in 1907.  Urban smiths like them because they are quiet, and do not ring like other anvils do.  Your anvil is nice, but it is not mint condition which would drive the price up. 70# is also a small size, not really a general shop size, more like one used to travel with to the work. I wouldn't mind a small one myself as I have a very small portable forge that it would work well with, but anvil values today keep me looking. I have yet to pay much over $1 a pound for all of mine. Joshua , the operator of the museum, is a good guy to deal with, but I agree that if you listed it on  Craigslist locally that you could have it sold quickly, and they will come to you.

Does it have any family history?

Posted

I'm going to put it up on Craigslist now and see if I can find someone more local because it does make more sense.  The guy would meet us halfway so it would be a three hour round trip instead of 6. (I just did a good job at negotiating with him!) :) It would be great sell out west but I think it would be more trouble to get it out there.  I'm super indecisive and kinda want to just keep it!  we have family out in Delaware so maybe we'll have to take a long road trip and donate it to the anvil fisher museum in Pennsylvania.  Not so much history that I know of.  We picked up the two anvils from my great uncles barn.  My great uncle was a logger and my grandfather did construction and paving (lived 5 minutes apart) who knows what they could've been up too with them.  

the little guy needs some love but it's a Columbian vise 00.  That means 5lbs right? We make these copper flowers with it once its cleaned up. 

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Posted

You also have to consider another factor.  Many of us here look at anvils as a tool.  So someone who is going to actually use the anvil to forge on will have a different price in mind compared to a collector.  Collectors keep their anvils stacked up and pretty much just look at them and show them off while almost all of us here use them.  I'm not taking a shot at anvil collectors, but there is a marked difference in what we each will pay for the same anvil.  I'm with the $2 a pound group so if you are getting more than $140 by someone else that's pretty good for you as a seller.

Posted

Well, if you are doing metalwork like that you never know if you might want to move up into doing a little more. 

You have a little one too that might want to get into metalwork. Anvils don't go bad when kept out of the elements. ( they seem to survive even in the elements) 

wouldnt hurt to tuck it away for later enless its about needing the money or space. Tho that guy could easily take little room tucked away in a closet or corner of the garage. 

Posted

Unless you need the money, I’d say keep it. There’s obviously a metalworking gene in the family, and it would be great if the little guy could get started on his great-great-uncle’s anvil!

Posted

Agreed if money is not needed, just keep it.  A Fisher is a dream to work on without the RING, RING other anvils make. I love using tools that my Dad owned as it gives me a connection to them. It is a craftsman thing, that connection to past generations of skilled workers.

 

Posted

Good morning!  I have decided to keep the anvil.  I do think its kinda crazy to keep a 70lb peice to pass down to my son i hope one day his grandchildren will think it's awesome :)  just wanted to update you guys.  ill pop on now and again and show you some work I do 

Posted

Good for you! There's nothing crazy about keeping using or passing a 70 lb. anvil to later generations. It's a fine size if you aren't doing heavy work on it. 

Please do keep in touch, we LOVE pictures you know. ;)

Frosty The Lucky.

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