Some of the anvils, are real old and were salesmen samples to show the buyers the shape and working faces for the various trades. As each trade had a different need as to repetitive forming tasks. The anvil with the hole in the middle is a ships anvil to keep the weight down. The anvil with the step down and angle on the working face is a plow makers anvil. some of the double horned anvils with one smaller sized horn was a chain makers anvil etc
The samples were just to show the working face, and if there was more than one hardy or pritcher hole along with the notches in the corners of the long sides for ease of repeat bending.
so if you buy an anvil with V notches that look like somebody cut them on purpose they probably were from the factory. And not chips or nicks!
There was an W.C.Fields movie were he played an anvil salesman and every time he dropped his carpet bag it sounded like a ton of scrap iron hitting the floor. It was a running gag in the movie.
The other tools in the rough hewn frames and orange backgrounds were done in the 1990's
glen