Fifty-one cent tea I collect as a degree holder! (10)
I believe the answer is:
licentiate
'a degree holder' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'fifty-one cent tea i collect' is the wordplay.
'fifty' becomes 'li' (I've seen this in other clues).
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'tea i' becomes 'ate' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'collect' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'cent'+'ate'='centate'
'i' going into 'centate' is 'centiate'.
'li'+'centiate'='LICENTIATE'
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for licentiate that I've seen before include "Qualified professional" , "Certificate of competence holder" .)