Name: Al Falcao

From: Canada

How long have you been collecting? 24 years

How many pins do you own? 35,000 different pins

Pin Trading at a Coca-Cola Olympic Pin Trading Centre can be very hectic. Often times you don't recognise the person you are trading with and sometimes you just don't care because it's the pin you're after!

During Lillehammer 1994, a couple appeared at my trading table and the man asked if I would trade for his IOC 101st. Session Monaco 1993 pin. My sixth sense told me that the man had to be an IOC Member because this was a very exclusive pin at the time.

I took a closer look at the man and said " If you are who I think you are, let me tell you that before you were born, I used to collect stamps and wrote to your parents congratulating them on their marriage and they very kindly sent me a set of their marriage commemorative postage stamps". My guess was right. It was Prince Albert of Monaco!

We not only traded pins but we also had a very pleasant conversation about his bobsled team's performance at Lillehammer 1994.

I met Prince Albert at two subsequent Olympics and he was gracious enough both times to say that he remembered me!