Lachenal & Co. was the great mass producer of Victorian concertinas — the “people’s” instrument to Wheatstone’s luxury one. The firm’s records were destroyed when it passed to Wheatstone in 1936, so Lachenal serials can only be estimated. This archive compiles what the concertina community has established: manufacturer formulas per system (clearly marked as estimates), and dated museum instruments from the International Concertina Association galleries.
The record makes room for uncertainty when a precise year is unavailable.
Factory and production era appear alongside the date when supported by a source.
See the source behind a match and what still needs to be confirmed.
The archive currently covers 4 series and 215 dating ranges from 1850 to 1928, compiled from published maker records and reference charts. Coverage grows as new tables are verified.
On the right-hand end plate or the reed-pan label. English, Anglo and Duet concertinas ran separate Lachenal number series — pick the system before reading the number. The exact spot varies by era and instrument type — the serial number guide walks through the common locations.
Recheck the characters exactly as marked, including any letters and leading zeros. Letter-prefixed numbers often belong to student or non-domestic lines that cannot be dated from the number. Some production periods may simply not be covered yet.