Antique Anvils
Miniature & Salesman Sample
Anvils
Antique
Advertising Anvils
& Vintage Small Anvil Paperweights
I like antique miniature anvils
and use to buy and sell a lot of them. Real examples are
getting
hard to find and there are far more new and reproduction anvils on the
market than there use to be which has dampened interest and hurt this
collectible in more ways than just the value. I still like them though.
Vintage & Antique Small Anvils
I am particularly interested in small anvils that have
some sort of interesting characteristic, be it raised letter, or incised
advertising, dates, other info, or other similar interesting features.
I especially like advertising anvils from old time businesses or actual
full size anvil makers like Hay Budden or the like.
I like anvils
that
have information or figural scenes and dates cast or impressed into the
sides of the anvil. Typically these miniature anvils are about 4" or so long and a couple of
inches tall. There are exceptions both larger and smaller that are going to be
of interest.
These
small vintage anvils were made for a variety of reasons. Some mini
antique anvils were given out or
sold as souvenirs at the early Expositions that were
once a large part of the American scene back in the late 1800's and into
the early 1900's.
Others were sold
as souvenirs at fairs or commemorative events like the one just above
that
has 1776 on one side and 1876 on the other, thus
commemorating the first American Centennial.
Many companies that dealt with
tools, forging, casting or with other iron products produced
them as advertising or as giveaways / paperweights for their customers. These are
of special interest and some are very detailed.
Some of these early anvils were made of the material that the company produced, like
those that say they are made of babbit / lead, the material used for the bearings in
large machines of that era. Others are brass, aluminum or copper,
and can be found marked or not.
Some vintage miniature anvils were made by individuals as gifts or remembrances, and these can be
of interest as well. Many of the nicest unmarked examples were
made as
projects by students in machinist classes at schools around
the country. Still others have been made from the scrap derived from
famous buildings or ships that were demolished for one reason or
another. I have had several over the years that claimed to be from
the wreckage of the warship the Maine.
Still others were made to be used by Jewelers or clockmakers and
some of these can be very nice as well. If you have any
of the above mentioned anvils you would like to sell, or i can help you
sell please contact me. I sold my last little collection
of them, and you can see a portion of that in the sales archive
section of this site.
New Anvils
There are a flood of reproduction and new miniature
anvils available these days.
The styles I like seem to be the ones that are
being reproduced in the largest numbers these days. Some are nicely
cast
and well done by what I will call mechanics here in the US.
Others are
coming from India or Pakistan in huge numbers and are just a sign of the
times. These include the new John Deere anvils found with raised letters,
and others such as the Cal
Poly with the bear or others from the same
mold / factory. There are examples being sold right now on eBay of some of the
best known original and valuable anvils, and they are I
assume collectible in their own right given the money they sell for, but that is not what I am looking
for either.
The small brass give-away
anvils with the slogan about "Compliments of" or "To
Forge
our Friendship" stamped into the top that were popular giveaways in
the 60's / 70's or so are another example
of the sort of miniature anvil I usually do not buy.
The above miniature / salesman sample anvils are
an example of the
caliber, condition and quality of these vintage anvils that we are interested in
buying & selling. To get a sense of values click the above link,
or go to eBay to see what they are currently selling for.
If you have quality antique or
vintage mini anvils similar to those that you see
on this page that you want to sell, please contact us at
LCM@AntiqBuyer.com
providing as many details as possible. Thank you!!
To see many other examples of antiques
that we have for sale please go to our sister site
at www.Patented-Antiques.com and
visit the numerous sale pages you will find there.
Thank you!!
Larry & Carole
