(work in progress, consider all sections to be incomplete. I tend to jump about a bit when adding, it's just my strange way )

There are many different reasons why people collect the items or objects that they collect. Some for their monetary value, some for the want of a hobby, some for the historical value, or just because they happen to like the items or objects. Whichever the reason it's more often than not the females who are the collectors, maybe this stems from the times when the women were the gatherers, while men were the hunters.

Free and Throw Away Items

Depending on what you collect, it needn't be expensive, in fact some freebies become collectible items as one researcher explains

Sometimes it is the small value disposable items that have the most historical value as least likely to have been kept or not usually tough enough to survive. I kept an order of service free handout given to just the crowd outside where Queen Mother's 100th Birthday celebration was taking place. There were only a few hundred handed out, I doubt many others kept theirs.

Pictured BT phone cards that were a popular alternative to cash before almost everyone owned a mobile phone. The pictures ranged from advertising images and slogans to themed sets as well as commemorative and special limited editions. Many of those phone cards were free, or low cost have now become collector's items.

(Autographs)

Practical Collecting

Sentimental Collecting

Some people collect things that have a sentimental meaning to them; for instance postcards that have been sent by family and friends, as one Researcher, who has saved every postcard he's been sent said ' it's like a picture diary of all my friends/relatives movements'.

One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure

Depending on how deep your purse or pocket is, and what items or objects you collect, you can add second hand items to your collection by shopping in a variety of places including, boot sales, charity shops, eBay, collectors fairs and antique shops.

Childhood Collecting

The things we collect in our childhood can represent our interests at that time, or we are influenced by the collection of our peers or an adult relative, friend or neighbour.

Common collections are likely to be the novelties of objects children use every day, such novelty rubbers or pencil sharpeners.

At one point I had, and had built, every type of Airfix aeroplane kit they had produced, They took up pretty much the whole of a bedroom.

When we grow up, most of us leave our childhood collections behinds us, but often never quite forgotten, as one ex pencil sharpener mused:

I don't collect them anymore but still have pangs of interest seeing them on sale when passing through souvenir shops.

Traditional Collecting

Coin collecting, officially known as numismatics, dates back to the Middle Ages, and is considered to be the oldest form of collecting. The types of coins collected can vary, from all coins from all countries to coins from specific countries to limited edition of commemorative and celebration coins. There are various different designs of the 50p, £1 and £2 produced by The British Royal Mint which become collector's items. New coins ¹ are annually commissioned, designed and manufactured.

Something for the Weekend

The weekend is the most popular time for visits to the theatre or concerts, and when you visit these venues you need to have a ticket, this is what some people collect. Some just keep their tickets in an old shoebox, while others like display them as a collage in picture frames, an average of eight tickets fits in an A4 frame. As well as having your memories framed in a modern feature to hang in a room, it can make some unusual (can't think of phrase at the moment) as one collector explains 'it looks a little odd, having The Tempest next to Death Cab for Cutie, and We Will Rock You on the other side'. A word of warning from another collector: 'we have about 30 A4 sized frames full of tickets (as a collage)... be careful, it is a hobby which sucks all the money out of your bank!'.