It is still considered the Rolls Royce of blacksmith anvils and is one of the most sought after anvils today. Hay Budden claims they used the best material available and were produced by the finest American craftsmen. Postman's book also states that Hay Buddens were considered the best American made anvil. This anvil was made from the best American Wrought Iron and faced with the best Crucible Cast Steel plate. It has a shorter waist and doesn't look as top heavy as later styles. According to Richard Postman's book "Anvils in America" this Solid Wrought Iron anvil was the first style anvil they made and is considered the most attractive style produced. Pictures say a thousand words, so please take a close look. You can never go wrong with a Hay Budden. The serial numbers are on the front foot reads "9213" which means this anvil was made in Early 1894. The trademark reads "HAY BUDDEN, MANUFACTURING CO., BROOKLYN, N.Y." and the weight mark reads "108". This Hay Budden has a flat clean face and edges. Some were straight! Others had the New York spelled out some had only NY.Matchlessantiques is offering collectors and smiths this Near Mint 108 lb. Hay Budden also changed its logo several times. The 3/4" face was done till 1914 and after that date they were married at the halfway point!! I think it is one of the photos of those links!! Anyway it indicates that mine was made after 1914. Some had a steel plate on top about 3/4" thick, others appear to have a steel top that goes about halfway down the anvil and they were married together as the anvil was cast and the other has a steel plate about 1 1/2" - 2" thick on it! I first thought mine was one of those with a 3/4" steel plate, however while painting it I hit the anvil with a haze coat, sorta a primer coat and the line where the top half of the anvil was married to the bottom mild steel base shows well. However there are three different markers, that also can help to date a Hay Budden. Alan has access to the serial numbers which can pretty much nail down the date of the anvil.
Here are a couple of links to another forum and a thread where a lot of the history of Hay Buddens was discussed!Īlan Longmire and Geoff Keyes from that forum are both very knowledgeable about anvils. This is a way of preserving some of the history! I could only see some of what was on mine! After doing the research on it I used what I could see and from pics of I re-created the full lettering and hand painted the logo and weight mark on it!! Don't ask me why, because it don't make the anvil any better but, I like history. You would have thought they would have marked them better.
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