A friend of mine (non-blacksmith) found this anvil in a barn. It is 158 lbs but has no apparent identification marks. Can anyone discern from these pictures what brand/maker it might be? He wants to sell it to me and I have no idea what the value is. Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to provide.

 

Hibby

Lacking a pritchel hole places its age at around pre-mid 1830s. That doesn't make it some rare antique anvil tho.

Ring and rebound test results will tell more on value in usability. To me those are more important than who made it. 

It's a bit mushroomed out which isn't a big deal but hammering on the edges could chip it or it means the faceplate is softish. 

It "looks" like a good usable anvil. Wire wheeling it may reveal maker stampings or weight stamp. But actual weight is obviously way more accurate than the old weight stampings....

Price it based on usability. 

Daswulf, I appreciate your advice. If rebound is decent, what kind of range would you say is reasonable? $200-300 or somewhere above $400?

Edited April 24, 20197 yr by Hibby
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With decent rebound at least US$300; with a rebound under 60% more like $150. Ohio tends to have cheaper anvil prices; at least during the 15 years I spent in Columbus.  However the market is pretty high all over. How high you can get can depend on how it6's advertised and how long you can sit on it.

Last Quad-State I saw several hundred old anvils for sale in Ohio. If you are not in a hurry you might wait and check anvils out at the next one.  A bit faster would be to attend a meeting of an ABANA Affiliate; there were a couple in OH IIRC.  Probably find some knowledgeable people and mayhap a market for it!

Thanks much. I spent way too much at last year's quad state

If there are manufacturers markings, it would be on the long side in the center, not under the horn or heel. Add a few more closeup pictures? It looks like an old mousehole I once had, but better shape. Mine lost part of the faceplate.

The feet design, with the sharp edges, looks antebellum, as mentioned. Are all 4 feet intact?

As for price , he is your friend. Give him a 6 pack of beer, and tell him you owe him one.

Here are some additional photos. No identifying marks that I can see. It appears one foot is a little broken. What in your opinion would be a can't pass up price?

I would say no more than $250, reason being the bad crack just forward of the hardy hole. Any hammering on the tail or using hardy tools would probably break it off.

Thanks for pointing that out. I've been so busy I hadn't even noticed.

Kind of looks like the heel already fell off,  and someone glued it back on. 250$ would be a good deposit on a new anvil, instead of this one. 

IMHO, This is an anvil zombie; you don't know what pieces will fall off next. If this was to be your main anvil, walk away, and let it be someone else's problem.