By Kathleen S. Carr ’96
When members of the Supreme Court Historical Society deemed it was time to make a push to commemorate Chief Justice John Marshall, they sought renowned trial lawyer Ralph Lancaster ’52 to make their case. 
“We looked among our distinguished trustees on the Society’s Board,” says Frank Jones, Supreme Court Historical Society president. “And very quickly determined that our strongest potential champion to chair this campaign was society trustee Ralph Lancaster of the Pierce Atwood firm in Maine.”
When Jones approached Lancaster and asked him to take on the project of honoring Marshall with a commemorative coin, Lancaster readily agreed. “Any lawyer worth his salt respects Marshall,” says Lancaster. “He’s responsible for the establishment of the court as a co-equal branch.”
Two years later, he had learned that the process of minting a coin involves sponsors, committees, testimony, voting and vigorous competition from worthy contenders—namely charitable groups that hope to benefit from the $10 surcharge gleaned from each coin sold. In the end, Lancaster organized thousands of supporters and benefited from the testimony of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who spoke out in support of the coin in the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy. This testimony, says Lancaster, pushed the vote over the edge. The 2005 silver dollar, with Marshall on one side and the Supreme Court Chamber on the reverse, may be viewed and purchased at www.usmint.gov. So far, more than 200,000 coins have been sold—with the surcharge used to support Supreme Court internships and the Supreme Court Historical Society’s endowment.
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