I have two nice Peter Wright Anvils I purchased a few years ago for about $3.50 a pound.  An auction at East Earl Pennsylvania had several anvils, and 4 were Peter Wrights.  No buyer's premium as the auction house doesn't charge it and there was no sales tax as it was on site.  I was hoping to snag a few more for under $4.00 a pound, no such luck.  Maybe since I purchased mine in September 2018, there has been an upward trend, but this seems unlikely.

The first was 112 lbs (auctioneer stated 110 lbs), hammered at $600, or $5.36 per pound.  I would have paid a little more per pound for this one, as it is smaller than most.

Second one was 145 lbs, hammered at $700, or $4.83/lb.

Third one I did not look at, did not notice it at the preview, 160 lb, hammered at $800 or $5.00 per pound.

Fourth one was very lightly used, so the condition was up there.  In comparison, the horn on the 145 pound one had some score marks from a saw, and was more heavily used, as was the 112 pound one (that one was neat as it was 1 0 0).  I cannot comment on the third one, as I did not look at it closely during the auction.  In any event the fourth one is 164 lbs (auctioneer stated 165), and it hammered at $1200, or $7.32/lb.

Prices seemed high today, but then again, lucky bidder 296 won all 4 lots.  Maybe a serious collector or dealer???  Or, maybe I need to dig a little deeper but it seems unlikely prices would increase as the younger set doesn't value this sort of stuff as much as the older set.

There were other anvils.  I think one that caught my attention, and I don't know what it was, but I think a Brooklyn, hammered at $2200.  Not sure why.  The largest anvil was 300 lbs, and this wasn't it.  Perhaps it was 150 lbs or so.  So it didn't sell for that sort of money due to a rare very large size.

Thoughts?

I have to still find a better property so I can actually blacksmith.  Still working on that.  My neighbors already think I am perhaps white trash (in a relative sense to them). so no need to stir the coals by clanging iron at 6 am on a Sunday morning, LOL!

It's hard finding a rural property that will work!

Lots of elbow room out here in the hot and dry! (Not much smithing equipment though...)

No thoughts as to the going rate per pound for an anvil these days?  I had always heard anything over $5 per pound was high, but, then again, years ago perhaps $1 or $2 per pound was high.  Perhaps this is the going rate these days, or maybe this auction was an anomaly?

Thank you for posting a summary.

 

That seems to be the going rate these days. There is a guy in the nearby CL (Reading PA area )that has a fleet of anvils for sale that is in line with the prices you saw at the auction. I'm sure you've seen the listing. Also a 300# Hay- Buddy for $2500. They have been re- listing them for a while now, so seemingly not everyone is willing to pay the price. I'm glad I got mine before the sillyness started.

Steve

A lot of people seem to not know that you can buy a brand new GREAT anvil for some of the prices being proposed for trashed old ones.

And some contend that no new anvil is suitable because they are too soft, and dent from hammer blows. He contends it needs to be a minimum of 59RC 60+ is best.  Can't say that I agree with that. Hit hot steel, not the anvil.

As I recall the 60+ RC to be a good anvil is from, "The Art of Blacksmithing" by Bealer and there's no telling who told him that. Folk who make claims new anvils aren't as good as old ones are likely to try and charge a premium for rust too. 

Frosty The Lucky.

The large old anvils tend to be softer than the smaller old anvils too.