British pop star Phil Collins has handed over his vast collection of artifacts related to the Battle of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution to the state of Texas.

Collins was in San Antonio on Tuesday to donate what's considered the world's largest private collection of Alamo artifacts. It includes a fringed leather pouch and a gun used by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie's legendary knife.

The 1980s pop artist and Genesis singer-drummer has joked that he spent all the money he'd made from music on artifacts related to the 1836 battle where 1,500 Mexican troops laid siege to 200 Texans.

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The collection was given to Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, the state steward of the Alamo. He's pushing for a new Alamo historical center that would house Collins' collection.

Collins mostly retired from music in 2011 but first came to the Alamo in 1973, while on his first U.S. tour with Genesis. He, singer Peter Gabriel and the tour manager had three days off and each got to pick a destination. Gabriel picked Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas and Collins chose San Antonio.

"I was just spellbound when I first saw it in person," he recalled. "Having lived all my life, to see it in books and movies and the pictures in magazines, it was really quite extraordinary."

Though Collins isn't as involved in music these days, Genesis fans have something to look forward to early next year. The career-spanning documentary, "Sum of the Parts, " will be released on Jan. 13.