There's a new domain on the Web — http://www.montgomerycoinclub.org — with a tiny story behind it. The Montgomery County Coin Club has been around since 1959 and, in contrast to many numismatic organizations, is thriving in its own modest way. Coin collecting is a graying hobby nowadays, and many clubs have died as their membership has.

But the MCCC has managed to attract new participants, including a significant number of young people. (I define "young" as "younger than myself"; note that at 50 years old I still pull the average age down when I arrive at a coin club meeting!) The MCCC has ~100 active members, perhaps a third of whom show up at any given monthly gathering. The club offers a mix of history, bargain-hunting, education, and cameraderie. Fun, in other words, at a relaxed pace that contrasts with the rest of modern life.

So why should, or shouldn't, the MCCC have an Internet presence? The issue was debated last year (see http://www.montgomerycoinclub.org/MCCC/club_mccc200206.html#feature)// without resolution. I won't repeat the arguments here; I found pro's and con's generally balanced, and refrained from voting either way. A club domain could attract a few new members, or it could be a small waste of time and money. Like so many things in life, "ThatDepends" ...

But at a Board of Directors meeting a few months ago, after some rather heated discussion, the bullet was bitten — and now the Club owns "montgomerycoinclub.org". Will it make any difference? Check back in another 40 years to see if the MCCC is still around ... and if the Web is too!

(see http://www.montgomerycoinclub.org/MCCC/club_mccc_current.html for the latest monthly Bulletin of the MCCC, and see also NumismaticRamblings (7 Aug 2000), NumismaticLuck (19 Sep 2000), CoinClubConjunction (22 May 2002), ...)

TopicPersonalHistory - TopicRecreation - 2003-05-20

What's in a name?

A modest correction - MCCC has had a web presence since about 1997, but under the American Numismatic Association (www.money.org) website.

What is new is that MCCC now has its own domain name. The information it placed on the web over the past six years is unchanged, just relocated (or is it just renamed?)

So the question debated by the MCCC board, and for the philosophers of the Internet is, "Does having one's own domain name make a difference?" Is it a mere vanity? Will it change the way MCCC presents itself to the world thru the Internet?

K. Swab

(correlates: TruckNumber, TerribleObstacles, HolyMatwimony, ...)