The WINS Club is approaching its eighth anniversary in a few months. We have had consistent growth in membership - now over seven hundred members from fifty-nine different countries. Though the number of active members is fewer than that, the total active membership has remained fairly consistent over the years at about one hundred give or take. And though we'd love to have a larger roll of active members, those who remain active on the email lists are knowledgeable, astute collectors who participate regularly. But even more importantly, our active members are always willing to share their knowledge with our close-knit WINS family.

WINS is still seeking growth. Additional members will continue to increase the knowledge base and the interaction on the email lists. Please consider promoting the WINS Club whenever you get a chance. There are a couple of fairly easy ways to do so. When you visit the WINS Flyer page on our web site, you can read about suggestions for acquiring copies of the WINS promotional flyer for distribution. The flyer is an easy means of potentially getting folks interested in our club. The flyers can be distributed by our members in numerous ways, but circulating them at coin shows and at coin club meetings seems to be the most effective.

An even easier promotional approach is to visit the section of our website where you can obtain the HTML to place a "Join WINS" button on your own website or within pages of other internet material. It's very simple to obtain the button and accompanying verbiage. Just visit the WINS General Information "About Us" page. At the bottom of the page, you'll locate the instructions. All you need to do is copy and paste the pre-written HTML. This "Join WINS" button could go a long way in helping to increase our membership.

If you haven't had the chance, do yourself a favor and take a look at the WINS web site page that reviews our "Coins As Art" contest. The contest was held several years ago, but the entries remain posted for your viewing pleasure. Some of the entries are simple in design and others are pretty complex. But they're all interesting. The Board has discussed the possibility of another similar contest. Maybe we'll see one develop sometime soon. If you have any good ideas about the next "Coins As Art" contest, please advise the Board. If you'd like to help sponsor a similar contest, or if you'd like to organize or otherwise participate in it, please let us know.

Our "Members' Collecting Interests" page on the WINS website was designed to permit each active member to tell a little about their personal coin-collecting hobby. Take a look at the page when you get a chance. The entries from the members are interesting, and each active member has the opportunity to display a photo as well. If you haven't yet participated, please consider doing so. And if you have already listed your collecting interests but have not yet submitted a photo, please send one when you get a chance. It's neat being able to place a face with a member's name. The page is open to all Active WINS members.

Did you know that our club has a physical mailing address? Our snail mail is addressed as follows:

World Internet Numismatic Society
P.O. Box 220904
St. Louis, MO. 63122

This address isn't utilized very much, but it occasionally comes in handy for physical items, bulk items, or correspondance that can't be handled as well via email. Our current Secretary, Dave Noble, checks the Post Office box several times a week and deals with the material we receive. And Dave has paid for this Post Office box out of his own pocket for many years, saving the club quite a bit of money. Thanks, Dave!

WINS also has a memorial page on our website. If you ever care to visit the page, you'll see that it contains a brief memorial to honor each of our deceased members. Fortunately the page remains fairly small.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the WINS Christmas Auction. A special thanks goes out to those of you who donated coins to the auction with the proceeds going to the Club's Treasury. This is one of our major sources of funding, and it certainly helps to keep WINS independent and running smoothly.

Congratulations to the newly-elected WINS Board of Directors. Thanks to those who ran for office. And thanks to all who took the time to vote. The elected Officers and voting results are noted by our Editor elsewhere in this newsletter. The effective date of the two-year terms is January 1, 2008. Please support these volunteers and offer them asistance in running your club whenever you get a chance.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish each of our members and their loved ones a happy, safe and blessed Holiday Season, and a prosperous 2008.

Best Regards,
Ralph J. Huntzinger
WINS#158, President