sixgun

Turn round twice and you'd think you were on the Step.

What's this new avatar showing off Carol's bazooka Joe's?
Don't think i hadn't noticed. 

So it is gold i take it - there is a 9 and 0.375  (9/24) for 9 ct gold.
The mark on the far left is likely the assay office - this makes me think Chester which last assayed metal back in 1962.
We have a upper case Q as the year mark on the far right. i have 1899 as my best shot at the year.
H&N will be the maker's mark. 
Does it look like this?  
This is Hollis and Newman. They were around in 1899 so would fit a Q year mark of that year.

 
This is a brooch sold on ebay - it was sold as a 9ct gold Hollis & Newman 1901 CHESTER brooch. The year letter is R - so the seller got it wrong - it is actually a 1900 piece.

So it is gold i take it - there is a 9 and 0.375  (9/24) for 9 ct gold.
The mark on the far left is likely the assay office - this makes me think Chester which last assayed metal back in 1962.
We have a upper case Q as the year mark on the far right. i have 1899 as my best shot at the year.
H&N will be the maker's mark. 
Does it look like this?  
This is Hollis and Newman. They were around in 1899 so would fit a Q year mark of that year.

 
This is a brooch sold on ebay - it was sold as a 9ct gold Hollis & Newman 1901 CHESTER brooch. The year letter is R - so the seller got it wrong - it is actually a 1900 piece.

Most of the silver coming to market is a byproduct of other metal production - mainly copper and zinc. Silver is an added bonus to the profit line in their production. If these metals are produced then there will be silver. The AISC of the pure silver mining plays isn't that important b/c if copper and zinc are mined and refined there will be silver. If all the silver mines closed, the average AISC would drop very low - not to zero but not $18. During the electrolytic copper refining process, sludge drops to the bottom of the refining tanks - this contains silver and some other precious metals. It is there for further processing without any mining required.
The main cost in mining is energy. Mining is very heavy on energy. Digging millions of tonnes of rock out of the ground, crushing and processing it needs a lot of energy. So the cost of all metals including silver is directly linked to the oil price. 
There are some who claim we have passed peak oil and the oil price in the next few years will start climbing which would innevitably feed into metals prices. i remember hearing about peak oil 20 years ago and it never happened. The idea of peak oil is that oil is a fossil fuel - the product of decomposed vegetation cooked inside the Earth. Then once an oil field runs dry that's it - it's all gone. This is a faulty theory when you consider oil has been drilled for over 12km down by both the Russians and Qataris. Plant matter was never growing that far down. Oil and gas are produced inside the Earth in a chemical reaction - as far as we are concerned there is unlimited oil and gas. Oil fields can 'run dry' but given time they fill up again. This happens but of course Big Oil isn't about to broadcast ideas like oil is the second most plentiful liquid on the planet isn't good for business.

Look out side it is already happening. Sunak is talking about price controls in the face of over 40 year record food inflation. This is End Times talk. Price controls don't work. The shops will empty out. It will end in tears. We need endless immigration to pump up property prices and support pension payments. As soon as prices make property unobtainium and the property market starts to crack, the not so good ship UK will end up at the bottom of the sea along with my silver stack.

Stay calm, @HerefordBullyun is sharpening his knife for your circumcision ceremonary - grit your teeth, it doesn't last long.

Look out side it is already happening. Sunak is talking about price controls in the face of over 40 year record food inflation. This is End Times talk. Price controls don't work. The shops will empty out. It will end in tears. We need endless immigration to pump up property prices and support pension payments. As soon as prices make property unobtainium and the property market starts to crack, the not so good ship UK will end up at the bottom of the sea along with my silver stack.

BYB did a video recently where he was extoling the benefits of numismatic silver over generic.
Coins have 2 components to their value.
1 Metal value
2 Collector value

Some coins sell for or near spot because few see them as worth anything more than their metal value. One day they will probably end up in the melting pot.
BYB was saying that numismatic silver coins had been better investments. 
This is generally true but be aware of a few things.
999 silver coins have often tended to develop milk spot. It is surprising that some people, even well know dealers, claim they didn't know about it until they came to places like TSF. Milk spot will trash the value of your numismatic silver coins. Milk spot has destroyed the appearance of your coin and cannot be removed without abraiding the surface. If you have spent a lot on the numismatic value of a coin you just went and lost most of that if it develops milk spot. Some mints were / are infamous for it, especially the Canadian Mint, although the Canadian Mint claims to have got this under control.
Collector value is in the eye of the collector community. There are fashions and gimmics. A coin or series can be all the rage but then falls out of favour a few years later. Do not go for gimmic coins. Beware commemorative coins, especially if they feature royal personages. Beware most colourised coins. There are lots of high priced coins, some of them very attractive but in general i would not touch them. i might think they are better than sliced bread when they appear but a few years down the line they have lost their novelty and are more reminiscent of a mouldy crust. 
If you pick nice proof coins, from a good mint, especially in a good series they can turn out to be a good investment. This takes experience and knowledge - it also take a 'je ne sais quoi' - some people have an eye for winners and some people just don't. If you don't and don't take advice you could end up throwing money away.
The situation where numismatics are the better investment could well change if and when silver appreciates a lot. If the price of silver trebled - just putting forward a number, your £24 silver coin turns into a £72 coin. Your £55 numismatic has to become a £165 coin. The majority of the value of this numismatic coin is in the collector value. Why should the collector value treble just b/c the metal value trebled? i don't believe it would. There is more risk in collector coins and this is where knowledge and an eye really helps.
So until you find your feet i would start collecting sovereigns. 

As i say i don't sweat over my stack - i haven't paid VAT and i still don't. Most of it was picked up during the period 2014 - 2020 when silver was friendless and i bought between £12 something and £17 something. i see Blackrock picked up a lot of PSLV the other day - the off take from the Shanghai exchange has also jumped. Who knows what's next. i always say, it's not a matter of if, it's simply a matter of when. i'll put up with a cardboard box for a little longer.

BYB did a video recently where he was extoling the benefits of numismatic silver over generic.
Coins have 2 components to their value.
1 Metal value
2 Collector value

Some coins sell for or near spot because few see them as worth anything more than their metal value. One day they will probably end up in the melting pot.
BYB was saying that numismatic silver coins had been better investments. 
This is generally true but be aware of a few things.
999 silver coins have often tended to develop milk spot. It is surprising that some people, even well know dealers, claim they didn't know about it until they came to places like TSF. Milk spot will trash the value of your numismatic silver coins. Milk spot has destroyed the appearance of your coin and cannot be removed without abraiding the surface. If you have spent a lot on the numismatic value of a coin you just went and lost most of that if it develops milk spot. Some mints were / are infamous for it, especially the Canadian Mint, although the Canadian Mint claims to have got this under control.
Collector value is in the eye of the collector community. There are fashions and gimmics. A coin or series can be all the rage but then falls out of favour a few years later. Do not go for gimmic coins. Beware commemorative coins, especially if they feature royal personages. Beware most colourised coins. There are lots of high priced coins, some of them very attractive but in general i would not touch them. i might think they are better than sliced bread when they appear but a few years down the line they have lost their novelty and are more reminiscent of a mouldy crust. 
If you pick nice proof coins, from a good mint, especially in a good series they can turn out to be a good investment. This takes experience and knowledge - it also take a 'je ne sais quoi' - some people have an eye for winners and some people just don't. If you don't and don't take advice you could end up throwing money away.
The situation where numismatics are the better investment could well change if and when silver appreciates a lot. If the price of silver trebled - just putting forward a number, your £24 silver coin turns into a £72 coin. Your £55 numismatic has to become a £165 coin. The majority of the value of this numismatic coin is in the collector value. Why should the collector value treble just b/c the metal value trebled? i don't believe it would. There is more risk in collector coins and this is where knowledge and an eye really helps.
So until you find your feet i would start collecting sovereigns. 

You say at your time of life you haven't got long to make back the premium from buying the metal. You talk about 20 years. How long do you want?
You have bought a bit over 2 kg of silver. i don't know what your personal circumstances are but 2 kilos is not heavy, so don't think you have been rash. Some people might say you have not gone in heavy enough.
Sadly you missed on the VAT free period before BREXIT. The prices have gone up inside the EU - so the window was already closing. The authorities have got heavy on German dealers using the VAT loophole, Estonia now charges VAT on silver coins and even goldsilver.be has in the last few months seen price rises. The cheapest 1 oz on goldsilver.be that i can get (converted from EUR) is £22.67 - which might sound cheap but it is not as cheap as it used to be.
If you were in the EU i would say carry on with silver. When i randomly looked at Atkinsonsbullion.com a 1 oz Charles Britannia is over 30 quid. This is just ridiculous. So if you want to continue buying silver, get it off TSF and not dealers charging these prices. The 1 oz coins are more expensive but are more liquid than say 1 kilo bars. You pay more but you can sell for more. 
The only reason to buy silver is that you imagine prices will go up faster than gold. Some people believe this. Personally i do but i have got my stack even if it is at the bottom of the sea after my tragic boating accident. i can watch and wait before i send down divers to get it back. 
In general i would say buy gold. Buy gold sovereigns. Don't worry that gold seems expensive. Gold on blockchain rails will be the money of the future. You cannot go wrong with gold. Paper assets could quite literally go up in flames but gold is gold and is the money of all time. You cannot have too much gold except where you have spent all your fiat cash and you don't have enough to cover surprise bills. i will repeat - paper assets could go up in flames - many people expect that to happen. When you have gold coins in your little hideaway you don't worry, you sleep well - you see a dip in the price of gold and see if you can get a bit more gold this month. I never ever worry about the metals prices with respect to my stack.
There are loads of sovereigns have been coming up on the forum. i would say this is one of the best places there is to buy them. Some sellers will hold coins for you whom i would trust to do so. So as long as you are pretty sure you will be coming back for more you can reduce the cost of postage. There are plenty of A+ sellers that you can trust on TSF.
In general there is no yield on gold and silver - there are ways to do this but for the moment i would recommend you get sovereigns, keep them safe and look after them.
In our present times gold is solid gold as a long term investment - it is a no brainer. If you are a cautious guy it is your best friend.
 

BYB did a video recently where he was extoling the benefits of numismatic silver over generic.
Coins have 2 components to their value.
1 Metal value
2 Collector value

Some coins sell for or near spot because few see them as worth anything more than their metal value. One day they will probably end up in the melting pot.
BYB was saying that numismatic silver coins had been better investments. 
This is generally true but be aware of a few things.
999 silver coins have often tended to develop milk spot. It is surprising that some people, even well know dealers, claim they didn't know about it until they came to places like TSF. Milk spot will trash the value of your numismatic silver coins. Milk spot has destroyed the appearance of your coin and cannot be removed without abraiding the surface. If you have spent a lot on the numismatic value of a coin you just went and lost most of that if it develops milk spot. Some mints were / are infamous for it, especially the Canadian Mint, although the Canadian Mint claims to have got this under control.
Collector value is in the eye of the collector community. There are fashions and gimmics. A coin or series can be all the rage but then falls out of favour a few years later. Do not go for gimmic coins. Beware commemorative coins, especially if they feature royal personages. Beware most colourised coins. There are lots of high priced coins, some of them very attractive but in general i would not touch them. i might think they are better than sliced bread when they appear but a few years down the line they have lost their novelty and are more reminiscent of a mouldy crust. 
If you pick nice proof coins, from a good mint, especially in a good series they can turn out to be a good investment. This takes experience and knowledge - it also take a 'je ne sais quoi' - some people have an eye for winners and some people just don't. If you don't and don't take advice you could end up throwing money away.
The situation where numismatics are the better investment could well change if and when silver appreciates a lot. If the price of silver trebled - just putting forward a number, your £24 silver coin turns into a £72 coin. Your £55 numismatic has to become a £165 coin. The majority of the value of this numismatic coin is in the collector value. Why should the collector value treble just b/c the metal value trebled? i don't believe it would. There is more risk in collector coins and this is where knowledge and an eye really helps.
So until you find your feet i would start collecting sovereigns. 

I agree with @sixgun and @CaptCaveMan - you should seriously be looking at gold. A defensive investor (insurance/stability) will run a 2:1 gold ratio - i.e. if you have £1000 you should own £667 in gold and £333 in silver. I own gold and have no mortgage so I can speculate if I want to. I choose to run a more aggressive silver strategy as I believe the fundamentals support silver rising faster than gold. The points about VAT are very valid and yes 100% buy your silver on TSF, never from a dealer

You say at your time of life you haven't got long to make back the premium from buying the metal. You talk about 20 years. How long do you want?
You have bought a bit over 2 kg of silver. i don't know what your personal circumstances are but 2 kilos is not heavy, so don't think you have been rash. Some people might say you have not gone in heavy enough.
Sadly you missed on the VAT free period before BREXIT. The prices have gone up inside the EU - so the window was already closing. The authorities have got heavy on German dealers using the VAT loophole, Estonia now charges VAT on silver coins and even goldsilver.be has in the last few months seen price rises. The cheapest 1 oz on goldsilver.be that i can get (converted from EUR) is £22.67 - which might sound cheap but it is not as cheap as it used to be.
If you were in the EU i would say carry on with silver. When i randomly looked at Atkinsonsbullion.com a 1 oz Charles Britannia is over 30 quid. This is just ridiculous. So if you want to continue buying silver, get it off TSF and not dealers charging these prices. The 1 oz coins are more expensive but are more liquid than say 1 kilo bars. You pay more but you can sell for more. 
The only reason to buy silver is that you imagine prices will go up faster than gold. Some people believe this. Personally i do but i have got my stack even if it is at the bottom of the sea after my tragic boating accident. i can watch and wait before i send down divers to get it back. 
In general i would say buy gold. Buy gold sovereigns. Don't worry that gold seems expensive. Gold on blockchain rails will be the money of the future. You cannot go wrong with gold. Paper assets could quite literally go up in flames but gold is gold and is the money of all time. You cannot have too much gold except where you have spent all your fiat cash and you don't have enough to cover surprise bills. i will repeat - paper assets could go up in flames - many people expect that to happen. When you have gold coins in your little hideaway you don't worry, you sleep well - you see a dip in the price of gold and see if you can get a bit more gold this month. I never ever worry about the metals prices with respect to my stack.
There are loads of sovereigns have been coming up on the forum. i would say this is one of the best places there is to buy them. Some sellers will hold coins for you whom i would trust to do so. So as long as you are pretty sure you will be coming back for more you can reduce the cost of postage. There are plenty of A+ sellers that you can trust on TSF.
In general there is no yield on gold and silver - there are ways to do this but for the moment i would recommend you get sovereigns, keep them safe and look after them.
In our present times gold is solid gold as a long term investment - it is a no brainer. If you are a cautious guy it is your best friend.
 

You say at your time of life you haven't got long to make back the premium from buying the metal. You talk about 20 years. How long do you want?
You have bought a bit over 2 kg of silver. i don't know what your personal circumstances are but 2 kilos is not heavy, so don't think you have been rash. Some people might say you have not gone in heavy enough.
Sadly you missed on the VAT free period before BREXIT. The prices have gone up inside the EU - so the window was already closing. The authorities have got heavy on German dealers using the VAT loophole, Estonia now charges VAT on silver coins and even goldsilver.be has in the last few months seen price rises. The cheapest 1 oz on goldsilver.be that i can get (converted from EUR) is £22.67 - which might sound cheap but it is not as cheap as it used to be.
If you were in the EU i would say carry on with silver. When i randomly looked at Atkinsonsbullion.com a 1 oz Charles Britannia is over 30 quid. This is just ridiculous. So if you want to continue buying silver, get it off TSF and not dealers charging these prices. The 1 oz coins are more expensive but are more liquid than say 1 kilo bars. You pay more but you can sell for more. 
The only reason to buy silver is that you imagine prices will go up faster than gold. Some people believe this. Personally i do but i have got my stack even if it is at the bottom of the sea after my tragic boating accident. i can watch and wait before i send down divers to get it back. 
In general i would say buy gold. Buy gold sovereigns. Don't worry that gold seems expensive. Gold on blockchain rails will be the money of the future. You cannot go wrong with gold. Paper assets could quite literally go up in flames but gold is gold and is the money of all time. You cannot have too much gold except where you have spent all your fiat cash and you don't have enough to cover surprise bills. i will repeat - paper assets could go up in flames - many people expect that to happen. When you have gold coins in your little hideaway you don't worry, you sleep well - you see a dip in the price of gold and see if you can get a bit more gold this month. I never ever worry about the metals prices with respect to my stack.
There are loads of sovereigns have been coming up on the forum. i would say this is one of the best places there is to buy them. Some sellers will hold coins for you whom i would trust to do so. So as long as you are pretty sure you will be coming back for more you can reduce the cost of postage. There are plenty of A+ sellers that you can trust on TSF.
In general there is no yield on gold and silver - there are ways to do this but for the moment i would recommend you get sovereigns, keep them safe and look after them.
In our present times gold is solid gold as a long term investment - it is a no brainer. If you are a cautious guy it is your best friend.
 

You say at your time of life you haven't got long to make back the premium from buying the metal. You talk about 20 years. How long do you want?
You have bought a bit over 2 kg of silver. i don't know what your personal circumstances are but 2 kilos is not heavy, so don't think you have been rash. Some people might say you have not gone in heavy enough.
Sadly you missed on the VAT free period before BREXIT. The prices have gone up inside the EU - so the window was already closing. The authorities have got heavy on German dealers using the VAT loophole, Estonia now charges VAT on silver coins and even goldsilver.be has in the last few months seen price rises. The cheapest 1 oz on goldsilver.be that i can get (converted from EUR) is £22.67 - which might sound cheap but it is not as cheap as it used to be.
If you were in the EU i would say carry on with silver. When i randomly looked at Atkinsonsbullion.com a 1 oz Charles Britannia is over 30 quid. This is just ridiculous. So if you want to continue buying silver, get it off TSF and not dealers charging these prices. The 1 oz coins are more expensive but are more liquid than say 1 kilo bars. You pay more but you can sell for more. 
The only reason to buy silver is that you imagine prices will go up faster than gold. Some people believe this. Personally i do but i have got my stack even if it is at the bottom of the sea after my tragic boating accident. i can watch and wait before i send down divers to get it back. 
In general i would say buy gold. Buy gold sovereigns. Don't worry that gold seems expensive. Gold on blockchain rails will be the money of the future. You cannot go wrong with gold. Paper assets could quite literally go up in flames but gold is gold and is the money of all time. You cannot have too much gold except where you have spent all your fiat cash and you don't have enough to cover surprise bills. i will repeat - paper assets could go up in flames - many people expect that to happen. When you have gold coins in your little hideaway you don't worry, you sleep well - you see a dip in the price of gold and see if you can get a bit more gold this month. I never ever worry about the metals prices with respect to my stack.
There are loads of sovereigns have been coming up on the forum. i would say this is one of the best places there is to buy them. Some sellers will hold coins for you whom i would trust to do so. So as long as you are pretty sure you will be coming back for more you can reduce the cost of postage. There are plenty of A+ sellers that you can trust on TSF.
In general there is no yield on gold and silver - there are ways to do this but for the moment i would recommend you get sovereigns, keep them safe and look after them.
In our present times gold is solid gold as a long term investment - it is a no brainer. If you are a cautious guy it is your best friend.
 

You say at your time of life you haven't got long to make back the premium from buying the metal. You talk about 20 years. How long do you want?
You have bought a bit over 2 kg of silver. i don't know what your personal circumstances are but 2 kilos is not heavy, so don't think you have been rash. Some people might say you have not gone in heavy enough.
Sadly you missed on the VAT free period before BREXIT. The prices have gone up inside the EU - so the window was already closing. The authorities have got heavy on German dealers using the VAT loophole, Estonia now charges VAT on silver coins and even goldsilver.be has in the last few months seen price rises. The cheapest 1 oz on goldsilver.be that i can get (converted from EUR) is £22.67 - which might sound cheap but it is not as cheap as it used to be.
If you were in the EU i would say carry on with silver. When i randomly looked at Atkinsonsbullion.com a 1 oz Charles Britannia is over 30 quid. This is just ridiculous. So if you want to continue buying silver, get it off TSF and not dealers charging these prices. The 1 oz coins are more expensive but are more liquid than say 1 kilo bars. You pay more but you can sell for more. 
The only reason to buy silver is that you imagine prices will go up faster than gold. Some people believe this. Personally i do but i have got my stack even if it is at the bottom of the sea after my tragic boating accident. i can watch and wait before i send down divers to get it back. 
In general i would say buy gold. Buy gold sovereigns. Don't worry that gold seems expensive. Gold on blockchain rails will be the money of the future. You cannot go wrong with gold. Paper assets could quite literally go up in flames but gold is gold and is the money of all time. You cannot have too much gold except where you have spent all your fiat cash and you don't have enough to cover surprise bills. i will repeat - paper assets could go up in flames - many people expect that to happen. When you have gold coins in your little hideaway you don't worry, you sleep well - you see a dip in the price of gold and see if you can get a bit more gold this month. I never ever worry about the metals prices with respect to my stack.
There are loads of sovereigns have been coming up on the forum. i would say this is one of the best places there is to buy them. Some sellers will hold coins for you whom i would trust to do so. So as long as you are pretty sure you will be coming back for more you can reduce the cost of postage. There are plenty of A+ sellers that you can trust on TSF.
In general there is no yield on gold and silver - there are ways to do this but for the moment i would recommend you get sovereigns, keep them safe and look after them.
In our present times gold is solid gold as a long term investment - it is a no brainer. If you are a cautious guy it is your best friend.
 

You say at your time of life you haven't got long to make back the premium from buying the metal. You talk about 20 years. How long do you want?
You have bought a bit over 2 kg of silver. i don't know what your personal circumstances are but 2 kilos is not heavy, so don't think you have been rash. Some people might say you have not gone in heavy enough.
Sadly you missed on the VAT free period before BREXIT. The prices have gone up inside the EU - so the window was already closing. The authorities have got heavy on German dealers using the VAT loophole, Estonia now charges VAT on silver coins and even goldsilver.be has in the last few months seen price rises. The cheapest 1 oz on goldsilver.be that i can get (converted from EUR) is £22.67 - which might sound cheap but it is not as cheap as it used to be.
If you were in the EU i would say carry on with silver. When i randomly looked at Atkinsonsbullion.com a 1 oz Charles Britannia is over 30 quid. This is just ridiculous. So if you want to continue buying silver, get it off TSF and not dealers charging these prices. The 1 oz coins are more expensive but are more liquid than say 1 kilo bars. You pay more but you can sell for more. 
The only reason to buy silver is that you imagine prices will go up faster than gold. Some people believe this. Personally i do but i have got my stack even if it is at the bottom of the sea after my tragic boating accident. i can watch and wait before i send down divers to get it back. 
In general i would say buy gold. Buy gold sovereigns. Don't worry that gold seems expensive. Gold on blockchain rails will be the money of the future. You cannot go wrong with gold. Paper assets could quite literally go up in flames but gold is gold and is the money of all time. You cannot have too much gold except where you have spent all your fiat cash and you don't have enough to cover surprise bills. i will repeat - paper assets could go up in flames - many people expect that to happen. When you have gold coins in your little hideaway you don't worry, you sleep well - you see a dip in the price of gold and see if you can get a bit more gold this month. I never ever worry about the metals prices with respect to my stack.
There are loads of sovereigns have been coming up on the forum. i would say this is one of the best places there is to buy them. Some sellers will hold coins for you whom i would trust to do so. So as long as you are pretty sure you will be coming back for more you can reduce the cost of postage. There are plenty of A+ sellers that you can trust on TSF.
In general there is no yield on gold and silver - there are ways to do this but for the moment i would recommend you get sovereigns, keep them safe and look after them.
In our present times gold is solid gold as a long term investment - it is a no brainer. If you are a cautious guy it is your best friend.
 

You say at your time of life you haven't got long to make back the premium from buying the metal. You talk about 20 years. How long do you want?
You have bought a bit over 2 kg of silver. i don't know what your personal circumstances are but 2 kilos is not heavy, so don't think you have been rash. Some people might say you have not gone in heavy enough.
Sadly you missed on the VAT free period before BREXIT. The prices have gone up inside the EU - so the window was already closing. The authorities have got heavy on German dealers using the VAT loophole, Estonia now charges VAT on silver coins and even goldsilver.be has in the last few months seen price rises. The cheapest 1 oz on goldsilver.be that i can get (converted from EUR) is £22.67 - which might sound cheap but it is not as cheap as it used to be.
If you were in the EU i would say carry on with silver. When i randomly looked at Atkinsonsbullion.com a 1 oz Charles Britannia is over 30 quid. This is just ridiculous. So if you want to continue buying silver, get it off TSF and not dealers charging these prices. The 1 oz coins are more expensive but are more liquid than say 1 kilo bars. You pay more but you can sell for more. 
The only reason to buy silver is that you imagine prices will go up faster than gold. Some people believe this. Personally i do but i have got my stack even if it is at the bottom of the sea after my tragic boating accident. i can watch and wait before i send down divers to get it back. 
In general i would say buy gold. Buy gold sovereigns. Don't worry that gold seems expensive. Gold on blockchain rails will be the money of the future. You cannot go wrong with gold. Paper assets could quite literally go up in flames but gold is gold and is the money of all time. You cannot have too much gold except where you have spent all your fiat cash and you don't have enough to cover surprise bills. i will repeat - paper assets could go up in flames - many people expect that to happen. When you have gold coins in your little hideaway you don't worry, you sleep well - you see a dip in the price of gold and see if you can get a bit more gold this month. I never ever worry about the metals prices with respect to my stack.
There are loads of sovereigns have been coming up on the forum. i would say this is one of the best places there is to buy them. Some sellers will hold coins for you whom i would trust to do so. So as long as you are pretty sure you will be coming back for more you can reduce the cost of postage. There are plenty of A+ sellers that you can trust on TSF.
In general there is no yield on gold and silver - there are ways to do this but for the moment i would recommend you get sovereigns, keep them safe and look after them.
In our present times gold is solid gold as a long term investment - it is a no brainer. If you are a cautious guy it is your best friend.