Name that anvil

[hooligan971]

A friend told me about an anvil that he saw lying under some rubbish in the back of a shop in town. We tried to get to where we could identify it and assess it's condition without looking too interested. The weight was clearly marked - 1-3-9 (205 # if my math is right) but the maker was not clear. You can clearly make out HILL as part of the name, but not even a portion of any other letters. Beneath that , was irming which I assume would be Birmingham England. Any ideas what this might be ? I'd like to have an Idea what it is before making an offer.
Thanks,
Patrick

[BT]

Postman lists a Hill anvil in AIA. Markings are "Hill" over "Burmingham".

[hooligan971]

lol... That would explain why I couldn't make out any other letters. The guy is know for thinking everything he has is worth way more than it actually is. I didn't want him to drive the price up too much because I seemed interested. The anvil looks like it's hardly been used and I went back to make an offer but don't know if it's something that is worth more as a collector than a user. Obviously he did some research after we looked and he claims it is rare and he needs to get $3500 for it ! Then he took a drilling hammer to demonstrate the

"toughness"

and proceeded to hit the crap out of it about 3 times until a chunk about 3/16" x 1 1/2" flew off of the edge (luckily right where it should be eased over) right behind the shelf. You could tell that he was embarrassed, but tried to cover by saying

" you 'sposed to do that all 'round a new anvil anyway so it make you work look old fashion lookin' ".

When I left , he was talking about

"just goin' ahead an doin' that all the way around cause that stuff will put somebody's eye out if you don't knock it off afore you start really usin' it".

I bet you'll see it soon on ebite. That is where he supposedly got his pricing info, but he says

"them guys are just givin' their anvils away at them prices on ebay"

I can't believe there are idiots like this clown that are allowed to roam freely within society. I hadn't seen an anvil in this good condition ever and it ends up with this oaf. Edited August 28, 2008 by hooligan971

[keykeeper]

Sounds like a good candidate for a "Darwin Award" to me.:D

[psilogen]

what a horrible man. almost 20 bucks a pound for an old wrought anvil (with a chip on the edge!)? I always hate to hear about anvils possessed by people who don't deserve them. This is worse than people spraypainting them and putting 'em in some landscaping, because at least those people are likely to part with the anvils for what seems like a lot of money to the uninitiated, but which isn't really that much.

[ThomasPowers]

Folks hoarding anvils used to make me angry; now I just accept the fact that someday there will be an estate sale and it will probably go for 1/10th what they thought it was worth.

Now the ourtright damage to it is another thing. My wife stayed all through an auction once to bid on some spinning equipment only to have the Auctioneer totally ruin it by "showing how it worked". She informed the crowd that he had destroyed it for use and now it was only worth a pittance to hang on a wall and left.

When folks try to sell me stuff at e-bay prices I tell them to sell it on e-bay! Sometimes they will contact me later and sell for a "local" price. I've generally found e-bay way over priced for what I was able to buy great anvils for in the midwest---much more like the prices out here in anvil poor NM.

[brucegodlesky]

That works both ways Thomas. I once was at a presale, found a leg vise in the scrap pile. Told the auctioneer to put it in the sale. He did. It was froze up and I said so when thwe time come to buy. Got it for $3. (BOG) It is a good ICTC vise.

[Trollhammer]

On the way back from Indiana this weekend, I stopped by an antique store somewhere in KY to see if they had anything lying around. When the proprietor asked me what I was looking for, I told him old tools and such. As he led me back to his tool section, he informed me that all tools at auctions are going up in cost, so its costing him more to keep them in stock. He presented me with a barrel of old tongs that were mangled and rusted beyond use and told me that each set was $22. I then noticed an anvil sitting on the floor, it was about 50 pounds. It was steel, but had no markings on it, and I could pick it up with one arm. He claimed that it was especially rare and wouldn't take less than $250 for it. The edges looked like they were chewed upon by a psychotic terrier. All in all, it may have been usable, but it seems to me that the price was a bit high. Is this pretty common with antique dealers? Are they actually failed car salesmen that couldn't find a job anywhere else? No offense to any car salesmen on here! ;)

[SGropp]

We won't even mention all the anvils scarred by hacks with cutting torches.

[Sask Mark]

I recently passed through an antique shop that was worse than ebay for pricing. A 150 pound Peter Wright farrier pattern (fairly good condition, but not excellent) was $800, and there were a Soderfors and a Columbian in the 100 pound range (neither better then fair-to-good condition in the $350-$400range.

[brucegodlesky]

Ya just tell those sellers it's agood thing ya don't have to feed them things 'cause they'rre gonna be settin for a while.

[ThomasPowers]

Well it used to be that antique dealers were scatter shot in prices; some were way high, some way low and some pretty much on the mark. However now e-bay provides a pricing guide for them and of course e-bay tends toward the upper end of prices for many things, (and then there's shipping...)

Also many don't really know anything about smithing tools and believe the "rare" descriptions on E-Bay, (I've seen some of the most common items marked "rare and collectable" on E-Bay). But this is more than just ebay; a friend of mine was browsing a sidewalk sale in a central OH town once and saw a grungy old pair of tongs for sale at an antique store for $45. As he was gagging the proprietor came up and was telling him what a great deal it was as she had a guide where a pair of tongs that had solid provanance to Henry Ford, (IIRC), sold for $90 so a random pair at half that price would be a great deal...She was not amused when my friend offered to sell her 100 pair at $20 a piece so she could double her money---he was buying them for $5 a piece at the local fleamarket in the town next over.

OTOH I've had an antique dealer call me at work to sell me an anvil at under a $1 a pound as it was too heavy for them to unload/load/unload at the show they were at.

Edited August 29, 2008 by ThomasPowers

[Trollhammer]

Wow, that's ridiculous. I was just having a conversation with my step-father about how it seems that you almost have to be crooked and shady to make money anymore. The conversation was in regards to credit card processing companies, but I notice the same trend with a whole lot of other businesses. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of honesty and dignity left with a lot of business owners.
Mickey