Phil Collins donates his huge collection of Alamo items

Phil Collins remembered the Alamo when he decided to donate his collection of more than 200 artifacts to the historic San Antonio site.

Collins is thought to have the largest private collection of Alamo-related items, Rolling Stone reports, including a leather shot pouch and rifle owned by Davy Crockett, powder horns, and the receipt for a saddle bought by messenger John W. Smith. He told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that his collection is kept in the basement of his home in Switzerland, and he can "look at it every day, but no one else was enjoying it."

Collins said that he became fascinated by the Alamo when he was 5 years old and loved the Disney miniseries Davy Crockett. In 2012, he wrote a book about his vast collection called The Alamo and Beyond: A Collector’s Journey. "Some people would buy Ferraris," he said. "Some people would buy houses. I bought old bits of metal and old bits of paper."

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Most of the items will be on display by October, and there are plans to construct a new building for the collection. Collins promised that he would continue to purchase Alamo collectibles, which he will send to San Antonio "once I've lived with whatever I buy for a month."