Hopefully all of you have just about made it through tax season without too many scars. Seems about half of us hate to see tax time arrive because of the burdensome paperwork and/or because the of the check which must be written to Uncle Sam. While the other half don't mind it at all because they get a refund which, in the case of coin collectors, might mean adding something to numismatic holdings. Regardless of the category you fall into, at least the closing of tax season usually means that Summer is just around the bend. And that might put a smile on most of our faces.

Good news recently surfaced from the U.S. Mint for those of you who collect Kennedy half dollars. They recently announced that 2001-dated halves would be sold to collectors by the roll and by the bag beginning about April 12, 2004. Previously, if you wanted the 2001-dated halves, you had to buy the U.S. Mint Sets. As many of you are aware, virtually none of the half dollars from 2001 through 2004 have been available through normal commerce channels. And while the 2002, 2003 and 2004 halves were made available in roll-sets and bags to collectors, the 2001-dated halves mostly remained in the vaults leaving collectors to wonder if they'd ever be released. Within a couple of weeks, your wishes apparently will come true. The same story applies to the Sac dollars. You could buy bags and rolls in 2002, 2003 and 2004. But the 2001-dated Sacs remain in the vaults. Maybe later in the year those will be released as well.

There has been some discussion on the Talk List regarding the use of articles, written by WINS members, which are linked from the WINS Library page. The Board of Directors is in the process of developing a policy statement for the acceptable use/sharing of these articles. Once completed, the policy statement will likely be linked from the Library page, and will permit the sharing of this educational material within the requisite legal parameters. JD White, the Operations Administrator, is currently ensuring that all of the articles appearing on WINS Web Site pages have the proper copyrights noted, and that each article page links back to the WINS home page.

On March 29th, Lesley Teres Retnam, Project Manager, issued an invitation to WINS for our organization to play a major role at the 3rd International Money Fair 2004 to be held on the 3-5 September 2004 at the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur. This is an annual show that involves international mints, money museums, postal services, dealers, suppliers, philatelists, numismatists, buyers, sellers and collectors. And though, as a club, we're not currently capable of setting up at such a show, I thought you'd find the invitation interesting.

The Board of Directors recently discussed and developed Administrative Rules to govern the Links page on the WINS Web Site. The rules were implemented via the following motion which, as is customary, is reported here along with the Board's votes for your viewing pleasure.

Board of Directors Motion 2004-03

I, Ralph J. Huntzinger, on behalf of a proposal presented by JD White, Operations Administrator, make a motion within the Board of Directors, that the Links Page Rules, as they read on Links Page Rules, be adopted as the Official WINS Administrative Rules governing the Society's Links Page on the WINS Web Site; said rules having been drafted for clarification regarding the use of the Links Page; said rules governing the listing criteria and review of such page; said rules establishing the Web Site Review Committee; said rules to be viewable from a separate link on the Links Page; and, if passed, this motion will cause said rules to go into full force and affect immediately upon passage.

Seconded by Dave Noble.

Vote was completed as follows:

President Ralph J. Huntzinger - YES
Vice President Ray Larson - YES
Secretary Dave Noble - YES
Treasurer Joe Garbarini - YES
Operations Administrator JD White - YES
Newsletter Editor Doug Prather - YES
Librarian Josh Moran - YES

The Links page may be viewed at Links Page Rules The new rules page is linked at the top of the Links page. Please take a look when you get a chance.

The Web Site Review Committee, which was established by the motion, has been appointed. The committee members, Ray Larson, Charles Calkins, Howard Spindel and Ken Hughes, are already hard at work on the Links page, and will eventually be reviewing other WINS Web Site pages for recommendations or refinements and updates. If you have any suggestions for them, please don't hesitate to contact Ray Larson, the Board's liaison on the committee. Many thanks to Charles, Howard and Ken for volunteering for this committee.

During March, the Board of Directors considered an additional motion, reported below, with the Board's votes.

Board of Directors Motion 2004-04

Mr. Joe Garbarini, WINS Treasurer, has made a motion within the Board of Directors, that Mr. Jason Craton be appointed to the WINS Board of Directors, Office of Treasurer; said appointment following the retirement announcement of Mr. Garbarini from the Office of Treasurer; said appointment of Mr. Craton as the sole nominated and seconded candidate to succeed to the Office of Treasurer; said appointment procedurally fulfilling all the requisites of the WINS Bylaws; said appointment to be a seamless transition in the Office of Treasurer from one day to the next; and, if passed, this motion will cause Mr. Garbarini's retirement to be effective at midnight 12:00:00 EST, Wednesday, March 17, 2004, and Mr. Craton's appointment to be effective at 12:00:01 EST, Thursday, March 18, 2004 for the duration of the present term of the Office of Treasurer.

Seconded by Ralph J. Huntzinger

Vote was completed as follows:

President Ralph J. Huntzinger - YES
Vice President Ray Larson - YES
Secretary Dave Noble - YES
Treasurer Joe Garbarini - YES
Operations Administrator JD White - YES
Newsletter Editor Doug Prather - YES
Librarian Josh Moran - YES

As a result, Jason Craton assumed the Office of Treasurer on March 18, 2004. But virtually at the same time, Jason, along with numerous other persons, was named as a defendant in a civil suit by ACG. Fearing that the WINS Treasury funds might fall victim to the lawsuit if he were to take possession, Jason has stepped down from the Office of Treasurer.

As you're all aware, we just went through several weeks of a special election process. Jason was the only candidate for the Treasurer's job. No other member volunteered or was nominated when Treasurer Joe Garbarini retired. And since there's no other interest in the position, I have resorted to the following clause excerpted, in part, from the Bylaws:

Appointment of Leadership Positions and Special Elections

When a Leadership vacancy exists for any reason ... and the remaining Leadership has not been able to discern any interested member to fill the vacancy, then ... the President may appoint one of the other existing Leaders to function in the capacity of the vacant Leadership position. If the President makes an appointment as such, then that Leader will be functioning in two Leadership capacities, but shall only have one vote among the Leadership or in other membership voting.

Dave Noble, WINS Secretary, has graciously and generously volunteered to assume the position of Treasurer. Therefore, as President, I appointed Dave as interim WINS Treasurer effective Monday, March 29, 2004. He'll function indefinitely in the dual capacity of Secretary/Treasurer. Thank you very much, Dave!! I'm sure we all appreciate this more than you'll ever know. Dave will act in the Treasurer's capacity as long as Jason remains involved in the lawsuit. Once the suit is over, or if he's released from the suit, then Jason can be re-appointed to the Treasurer's job.

The WINS funds remain in the possession of Joe Garbarini, our retired Treasurer. He hadn't yet transferred them to Jason Craton because he was in Missouri, and because Jason was going to be away at the ANA convention. Dave Noble has already initiated a new PayPal account: winstreasury@sbcglobal.net. He's also opened a new checking account at the Pioneer Bank and Trust Company in St. Louis, Missouri. Arrangements are being made now to transfer the funds directly from Joe to Dave.

Thanks a lot to Jason for initially accepting the Treasurer's position, even though it was short-lived at this point. Thanks a lot to Dave for accepting the interim Treasurer's job and for helping us out in a pinch.

Best Regards,
Ralph J. Huntzinger