Robert Wallace McLachlan
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Robert Wallace McLachlan (9 March 1845 – 10 May 1926), was a prolific early Canadian numismatist, who published many works focusing primarily on pre-Canadian Confederation coins, tokens and medals. He lived in Montreal, and was for many years the Treasurer and Curator of The Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Journal.[1][2] Along with fellow early Canadian numismatists Alfred Sandham, and P. N. Breton and Joseph Leroux, his publications are considered to have laid the foundations for Canadian numismatic research.[3]
In 1894, P. N. Breton stated that McLachlan's coin collection was the most extensive in Canada with over 8,000 pieces, ranging from ancient Greek issues to contemporary coins.[4] McLachlan sold his collection in its entirety to The Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Society of Montreal in 1922, which at that time had grown to an estimated 20,000 pieces.[5]
In October 1876, he married the temperance activist, Elizabeth Weir, daughter of William Park Weir,[6] and sister of William Alexander Weir and Robert Stanley Weir.[7]
Selected works
McLachlan published the following books and pamphlets on Canadian tokens:
- The Edward Murphy Medal, published in 1877
- Canadian Temperance Medals, published in 1879
- The French-American Colonial Jettons, published in 1884
- The Money and Medals of Canada Under the Old Regime, published in 1885
- Canadian Numismatics: A Descriptive Catalogue of Coins, Tokens and Medals Issued in or Relating to the Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland, published in 1886
- Statistics of the Coinage for Canada and Newfoundland, published in 1890
- Canadian Communion Tokens, published in 1891
- The Louisbourg Medals, published in 1891
- Annals of the Nova Scotian Currency, published in 1892
- Coins Struck in Canada Previous [to] 1840, published in 1892
- Canadian Diamond Jubilee Medals, published in 1898
- The Nova Scotian Treasury Notes, published in 1898
- Medals Awarded to the Canadian Indians, published in 1899
- Two Canadian Golden Wedding Medals, published in 1901
- The Real Date of the Canadian 1820 Harp Tokens, published in 1907
