Photo provided by Dave Lepo.

This is a classic early 20th century American made anvil without markings. Many anvils were made by the major manufacturers for hardware chains and others that sold anvils under their brand name. However, most did not stamp or indelibly mark their brand names on the anvils they sold. They used paper labels, stencils and decals which had a short life compared to the anvil.

There are many unidentifiable anvils. When you get back to anvils from the 1700's and early 1800's the majority are not marked. When it became required to mark the country of origin of many products all anvils started to be marked by maker and country of origin. The old ones are often top quality and just as good as any "branded" anvil. While everyone makes a big deal over who made their anvil the value of them as a tool is no less.

The corrosion on this anvil exposes details that are difficult to detemine in otherwise uncorroded anvils. Here you can see the steel face plate and the pattern in the wrought iron body.