Rough Date identifying Trenton Anvil

[Jboothe]

I don’t see any marks on the bottom.

[M3F]

Interesting. From what I see it appears to be a very early Trenton then like I said 1897 or early 1898. Pretty cool if you ask me!

[Yanni Rockitz]

Kool konversation.  ;-) 

Jboothe -- I have an almost identical Trenton anvil -- almost. Mine is 159 lbs, also has a flat bottom (no oval depression, which would indicate USA manufacture) and mine also has the square handling holes at the waist (under the horn and opposite) and in the bottom. Mine has no serial number on the foot, which is different -- your does have one. One of IFI's intrepid members was kind enough to look mine up in Anvils In America and confirmed that the flat bottom and lack of serial number indicate it was one of the earliest Trentons, which were actually made in England and imported to the US, between 1878-1898, which is what M3F has basically explained above, though I think he may be more on target at the later end of that date range, as yours having a serial number on it, combined with no depression on the bottom suggests it may have been among the earliest serialized anvils Trenton made, prior (or just after?) bringing production to the States. I don't know exactly when the serial numbers started... If that was in England, you have a late 1800's English-wrought Trenton. If it was in the US, you'd need to find out exactly when they started putting the depressions into the bottoms. Yours must be somewhere in that intersection in time. 1898 is a solid guesstimate. Here's what I was told about mine, back in 2021:

"TWISTEDWILLOW:  AinA pg 357 talks about Trenton imports and if I’m understanding it correctly your anvil is a Peter Wright design. The age is 1878-1898 after that everything changed. That same page talks about German imports also, but the German ones do not have the handling hole under the horn. That’s why I think yours is the Peter Wright design.

Carl & Sy Wright  (distant cousins of Peter Wright) started the company that made Trenton anvils. If you look at the cover of Anvils in America, by Postman, that is a painting of Carl & Sy making an anvil (I forget the name of the 3rd person.)"

Love the history. Nice find!