What do you like to buy and collect?

Old coins!

That was one of our childhood obsessions.  Back in the 1960s and 70s when we still had old money.  We were trying to collect all the years of the old penny's, three pence, six pence, shillings, florins.

We had penny's back to the 1880s,. They were filthy and worn out.

Just thinking about the dirt on these coins makes me I'll.  Then we spent hours cleaning and getting them to shine with copper cleaning products.  More dirt and the smell!!!.

Good old days!

I still have my coin collection, which started from discovering an ancient, worn Victorian penny. One with her in a bun. The old head took up more space on the coin. I had a fairy sixpence, 1918 (tooth pillow), and an aunt even had a coin from 1986 that she let mebhave

Decimalisation did change all that, though I notice that the earliest ones of Elizabeth. now, also look somewhat worn, except for mine, which have retained their original copper sheen. 

I still have my coin collection, which started from discovering an ancient, worn Victorian penny. One with her in a bun. The old head took up more space on the coin. I had a fairy sixpence, 1918 (tooth pillow), and an aunt even had a coin from 1986 that she let mebhave

Decimalisation did change all that, though I notice that the earliest ones of Elizabeth. now, also look somewhat worn, except for mine, which have retained their original copper sheen. 

No, I don't. But when I teach business English I do teach about the topic of money. 

I see from your profile that you teach English as a foreign language.  Do you teach your students what the phrase 'old money' really means?

I found the magic of getting old coins in change too. 

I could not really collect decimalised coins now either as I don't live in the UK, haven't for over 20 years. I sometimes use my UK coins as realia with my students, where this comes up in a lesson

Unfortunately I stopped collecting these coins after decimalisation.  Part of the fun was getting coins as part of the change, in shops.

Explicitly buying them in antique/second hand stores is something I won't do.  Although I enjoy visiting antique fairs and flea markets.

More recently, while taking holidays in Scotland and Northern Ireland, I tried to get a full collection of notes issued by the various banks.  Again I tried to get them naturally as change in shops.