Robert Barton inherited his grandfather Sir John Barton's Dividing Machine in 1878.

Robert Barton was Deputy Master of Royal Mint's Melbourne branch from 1895. He joined the Mint when it first opened in 1869 as one of only two assayers and helped refine and speed up the process of assaying precious metals. It is thought that before joining the Mint he worked as an assayer for the Bank of England. Barton was awarded the position of Fellow of the Chemical Society and a member of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1872.