Anvil ID

[meangene1969]

Hello All, Im new to the forum and picked up an anvil from my grandfathers after he passed. I was wondering where I can find out info on its ID, Year, etc. He always called it a trenton or something like that. I weighed it at 180lbs. It has a partial marking and the numbers 179 on the left and 173633 on the right. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

 

[hullbert]

Nice anvil! Check out the book "Anvils in America" by Richard Postman. Your anvil does look like a Trenton--made by The Columbus Forge and Iron Co. in Ohio. If I remember correctly, the number on the left indicates the weight and the serial number on the right indicates it was manufactured sometime between 1914 and 1921--I don't have the actual serial number chart in front of me, so I can't give anything more precise. The book should give you a better idea on the age.

 

[drivesitfar]

are you looking for information on the value to sell it or are you going to use it? my guess is the 179 is the weight since you mentioned it weighs about 180 pounds.

no idea what the other #'s and that alien TTTTTTTT markings stand for. I can tell you it looks like an awesome anvil. also if you are not aware of how an anvil works or was made they are made for hammering on steel that is hot and came out of a forge or some other method of heating it. DONT use it to hammer on with cold steel.

a good way to tell if it might be a good anvil is to drop a steel ball (think bearing) from about a foot above it onto the face and see how far it bounces back up. the really good ones will bounce the ball back up into your hand without moving your hand.

also welcome to Garage Journal and I hope you stick around to learn and teach us things you know.

 

[Davefr]

That is anvil was made by Trenton and appears to be one that they imported from Germany.

I agree. It's a Trexton or Trenton. I believe they used both names inside of the diamond. Here's it's twin brother:

 

[hullbert]

Here's a good post from ABANA with some historical info on German and American Trenton anvils:
http://www.abana.org/resources/discus/messages/5/1254.html?1253638081

 

[meangene1969]

Thank yall for the info. I plan on keeping it. I remember banging on it as a kid with a hammer while my great grandfather and grandfather worked on oil field trucks.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

 

[donmillerx]

Nice heirloom.