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Rarest anvil out there....


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For all you anvil collectors and smiths out there...Whats the rarest anvil you have actually seen or heard of? Yes there is obviously a 900+ pound Hay Budden out there somewhere, and an 11 pound Hay Budden just sold on ebay for $3600. Ill post my find in a couple of days!

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KYBoy,
The biggest anvil Fisher made (i think) was the 1400 lb anvil at the 1876 centennial exposition.

Fisher & Norris Anvil Works

IIRC that was a one off "look at what we can do, we are so great" type of deal. I don't believe that size was manufactured in any quantity.

I've seen somewhere some pictures of (what remains of) a few renaissance era anvils, I'd say those are pretty rare. The oddest anvil I've seen is that tri-anvil that popped up on ebay a while back, I think there is a picture of it in the gallery here somewhere.

-Aaron @ the SCF

Edited by the_sandy_creek_forge
speeling mistackes
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The old cathedral window anvils from Europe are pretty rare as are the really old stake anvils that predate the London pattern.

The Fisher exhibits at the Centennial and various World Fair's they participated in had many large ones - 400, 500, 650, etc. up to the monsters. IIRC, I saw a pic from the Chicago Word's Fair where they had about 15-20 anvils set up at the exhibit. I would love to have any one of them...

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KYBoy,
The biggest anvil Fisher made (i think) was the 1400 lb anvil at the 1876 centennial exposition.

Fisher & Norris Anvil Works

IIRC that was a one off "look at what we can do, we are so great" type of deal. I don't believe that size was manufactured in any quantity.

I've seen somewhere some pictures of (what remains of) a few renaissance era anvils, I'd say those are pretty rare. The oddest anvil I've seen is that tri-anvil that popped up on ebay a while back, I think there is a picture of it in the gallery here somewhere.

-Aaron @ the SCF


Thats cool! Thanks for the link..
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The old cathedral window anvils from Europe are pretty rare as are the really old stake anvils that predate the London pattern.

The Fisher exhibits at the Centennial and various World Fair's they participated in had many large ones - 400, 500, 650, etc. up to the monsters. IIRC, I saw a pic from the Chicago Word's Fair where they had about 15-20 anvils set up at the exhibit. I would love to have any one of them...


In Europe you can only find those types of anvils ( cathedral and stake). In Romania for example . .as well as surrounding countries. .you could easily fill a truck with a couple of thousands of dollars and a local guide. But who has the time and money for that?
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The Fisher exhibits at the Centennial and various World Fair's they participated in had many large ones - 400, 500, 650, etc. up to the monsters. IIRC, I saw a pic from the Chicago Word's Fair where they had about 15-20 anvils set up at the exhibit. I would love to have any one of them...


Check a few posts up the line from yours for the pic (it makes a real purdy desktop image for a computer screen ;) )

-Aaron @ the SCF
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There is a lovely example of an early anvil in the Roman museum in Bath, England.

It is a squarish stump anvil with a beautifully mushroomed head, no horn whatsoever, no hardy or pritchel holes. (and it looks amazing like a Spanish Colonial travel anvil on display at the Camino Real museum in New Mexico that is over 1000 years later!)

I was lucky enough to get a very fine replica of this anvil at Quad-State this year and now have to start on the several centuries of use to produce the lovely mushroom effect. (Which may be a bit difficult as my copy is heat treated medium carbon steel instead of soft wrought iron).

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Devon, the age of anvils can be hard to pin down. Certain brands were only made during a limited time span. Some brands have a serial number that folks can put a date on. Others the style can help date it---exp The pritchel hole dates to the early 19th century so an old anvil without one is pre that date, (though some old ones were retrofitted with one)

Very old anvils would be dated using archeological methods.

Here in the USA there is a great book called "Anvils In America" by Richard Postman that has a lot of good info on anvils that were used in the USA and a lot of dating info in it too.

Finally William Foster anvil manufacturer date stamped their anvils; mine was made in 1828.

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