Value of my anvil

[Steve Y.]

Below are pictures of the 133 pound anvil (ED Kimball & Co., I believe).  I inherited it from my grandfather who used to shoe his own horses.  It is located in Western Maryland.  Can anyone help me determine its value?

Thank you.

Steve Y.

[George N. M.]

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming.  Glad to have you.

Although your anvil has had wear it is still in decent shape and is vey usable.  100-200 pounds is a good size for a one person shop.  I would make a semi-educated guess that in your area fair market value would be in the $3.00-4.00/pound range but that may vary on how much someone is willing to give and what you are willing to accept.  You can check out ebay, craigslist, facebook market place to see what used anvils are going for and Blacksmiths Depot and Centaur Forge to see prices for new anvils.

This is assuming that your anvil passes the ring and rebound tests.  The ring should be pretty consistent when struck all over the face except a bit mor muted on the heel (opposite the horn).  If there is a dead spot where you just get a "thunk" it is likely that the face plate has delaminated from the body.  For the rebound test you drop a ball bearing from a known height (often 10") and measure how high it bounces back.  Anything over 80% is good, 70% is OK, and anything less than 50% is pretty punk.  If there is a low rebound it may mean that the anvil went through a fire which drew the temper of the face plate and made it soft.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome from the Ozark Mountains.

That looks like a very good Farriers anvil and knowing the history of it is a plus. The minor edge chips are of no consequence, and I hope you have read about not doing any grinding, milling or welding on the hardened steel face, which will do more harm than good.

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PS I agree with George N.M. on the value of the anvil $400 U.S. would be a fair price in my area.