Iron Anvil

Whichever of the two metals your world generated, you are getting the same station under a different name. The two share their recipe list exactly, so nobody is missing out on anything. Nearly every early weapon and armor piece passes through it, along with the jungle tier gear that has nothing to do with bars at all, so put one down before you start smelting in bulk.

The Merchant stocks the iron version, so you can skip the bars entirely and pay coins instead. Underground cabins also generate with one already placed fairly often, so a spelunking trip can hand you a free one. Pick it up when you see it rather than walking past.

It covers you all the way through the pre-Hardmode tiers and the first Hardmode ores. Once you are working Cobalt Bars or Palladium Bars, the recipes above that lock you out until you build a Mythril Anvil or an Orichalcum Anvil. The upgrade does everything the old station did, so there is no reason to keep the old one placed except as decoration.

Lead would make a dreadful anvil in reality. It is soft enough to mark with a fingernail and melts at a temperature any working forge passes without trying. The recipe list also wanders well outside blacksmithing: the Amazon is a wooden yoyo, and you still make it here.