Been looking for a big anvil for my shop. This ad in the ag paper said they had 3 anvils, pictures looked good. So today we drove up there, 75 miles each way. Got signed in late, shoved my way through the crowd and started looking for the anvils. 3 rows of pallets, down the length of the yard, farm machinery on both sides. Broken down buggies, tack, harness, and right on the end a pallet with the anvils. The big one was advertised at 250lbs. and looked it. Never used, coated with black paint. Of course the poorly ground casting line on the table was a giveaway, also the poorly shaped horn, and the lack of pritchell hole. What really bothered me were the pits in the casting on the sides, and around the waist. Lots of pitting, pits big enough to break off a pencil in. I think this thing was made in Russia or China, and not very long ago. The mid size anvil turned out to be a Peter Wright, 132lbs. With a piece broken off the table plate as big as a playing card. Waited and waited, finally the auction truck turned at the end of the row and was coming back. Missed a bid on a box of iron, wagon parts. The rusty tools on the flatbed had already sold, due to my misreading the directions and getting there 20 minutes late, but I sure didn't lose out on anything. Finally the bidding starts on the anvils, your choice. My thought on the big one was maybe $150, and was a wee bit surprised to see this fragile piece of yard art went up to $278. The poor peter wright I took up to $100, and it went on past that to $175. The little one, about 40 lbs and no name, I figured maybe $50, nope, it went for 125. Dang, and I spent 40 bucks just for gas. Still looking for a big anvil.
