Meet The Garridebs: Al Raddi

“… a most valuable institution …”

– The Adventures of The Six Napoleons (SIXN)

The 8th Garrideb, Al Raddi, aka Colonel Sebastian Moran, holds a very distinct honor with The Fourth Garrideb. Al was the first person in the meeting room in Rosemont, IL where we had our organizational meeting on August 9, 2014 during the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money. We won’t mention the fact that Al was in the meeting room for the CONECA (Combined Organization of Numismatic Error Collector of America) meeting that ended five minutes before our meeting, and never left the room….

Numismatically, Al collects varieties of Lincoln cents and has been an active volunteer for CONECA for many years.  At this year’s ANA World’s Fair of Money, CONECA honored Al by presenting him with their Hall of Fame Award during their annual banquet.

In addition to CONECA, Al is a member of the ANA, the California State Numismatic Association, and the Central States Numismatic Society.  In his home state, Al belongs to the Michigan State Numismatic Society, the Polish American Numismatic Association and the Huron Valley Numismatic Society.

A retired social worker, Al also collects stamps and has had many articles published in various coin and stamp journals. The collecting bug has bit Al hard, as he also collects comic book art, vintage magazines, postcards and railroad timetables.

When not working on his collections or travelling, Al can be found playing his guitar or volunteering at the local arts council and the public library. Favorite authors of his include John Lescroart, Robert Crais, Richard Dawkins and Malcolm Gladwell. A Study in Scarlet is his favorite story from the Canon.

His investiture name was suggested by a high school friend. Their high school mascot was a tiger, and the friend suggested that, like Colonel Sebastian Moran, Al’s “bag of tigers still remains unrivaled”. Whether or not that is true, Al found it appealing to be identified with “the second most dangerous man in London”.

If Al could have dinner with any person from history, it would be Albert Einstein. Al commented, “I’m fascinated by his work and have two of his signed letters as well every postage stamp issued with his portrait on it.”