bluemoon

If you're going the safe route, have the safe hidden too. The first line of defence is for nobody to know you have a safe with valuables at all. Then if they somehow discover it, the safe does it's job as the second line of defence.
So to that end, see where you can bolt it that even a determined adversary would be unlikely to find it. Bolted inside a disused water tank under the garden, for example. Of course, if an adversary has time, they can scour the property with a metal detector and that would find the safe. But hopefully the safe would then do it's own job. Have a think about putting the safe not in your home, but where nobody goes to.

If you're going the safe route, have the safe hidden too. The first line of defence is for nobody to know you have a safe with valuables at all. Then if they somehow discover it, the safe does it's job as the second line of defence.
So to that end, see where you can bolt it that even a determined adversary would be unlikely to find it. Bolted inside a disused water tank under the garden, for example. Of course, if an adversary has time, they can scour the property with a metal detector and that would find the safe. But hopefully the safe would then do it's own job. Have a think about putting the safe not in your home, but where nobody goes to.

Not good for silver. Gold is better for tolerating those temperatures though.

Why would anyone want to sell to bullion dealers and get short changed by them, when you can sell privately on forums like this for a fair price?

Things like this are why I only buy gold with cash. I haven't bought gold with a bank since 2016, since then it's always been with cash. I'd like to avoid nightmares like the ones shared on this thread.

Things like this are why I only buy gold with cash. I haven't bought gold with a bank since 2016, since then it's always been with cash. I'd like to avoid nightmares like the ones shared on this thread.

Why would anyone want to sell to bullion dealers and get short changed by them, when you can sell privately on forums like this for a fair price?

The 2022 Sovs literally look like a freshly minted 1p coin. If I had my Sovs on me now I'd do a side by side. Anyone?

Well this has been positively sideways hasn't it? Where is the excitement? I need my dopamine hits what with my 6 seconds attention span! (Thanks internet).

Quit being all rational-like. Moon or Doom.
 

Well this has been positively sideways hasn't it? Where is the excitement? I need my dopamine hits what with my 6 seconds attention span! (Thanks internet).

Well this has been positively sideways hasn't it? Where is the excitement? I need my dopamine hits what with my 6 seconds attention span! (Thanks internet).

I'm hearing it too. It's like the Orcs have reached the shire.

I'm hearing it too. It's like the Orcs have reached the shire.

I'm hearing it too. It's like the Orcs have reached the shire.

I'm hearing it too. It's like the Orcs have reached the shire.

I'm hearing it too. It's like the Orcs have reached the shire.

Another cash/bank story was when the old £50s were due to come out of circulation. I went into the Post Office to have them swapped out. The man said something about only being able to put it into my bank. I told him I don't have a bank account (I'd only get more grief from my bank). He offered to set me up with a Post Office account and I said definitely thanks but no thanks. So he gave in and asked how much I have. I said £500.He said he can swap only £300. I don't know why but fine, it's a deal. When I took the money out, his eyes went on stalks when he saw they were all £50 notes. He nervously took my money and started counting. Despite saying £300, he had a "F this" moment at £200 and tossed the rest of my money back at me, mumbling something like "that's enough, £200". He then took out the new notes to give to me (all £20s because apparently Post Office don't do £50s), gave me £200 worth and said goodbye in a "now go away" tone of voice. I said to hold on while I count up the notes he gave me. I duly counted £200 then looked up and said thank you, seeing an indignant face as he was leaned back in his chair, his body language as though he just inadvertently helped a drug dealer launder his money or something.
The moral of the story I took away was these responses only happen because not enough people are normalising cash, and my lesson was to do this sort of thing MORE to help normalise it.
In fairness to Barclays, their self service machines could have taken my cash and spat me out some new polymer notes, and I still withdraw my money from their in £50s without a problem (max £2000). I don't know why I thought the Post Office would be better, but it made for a something to tell the Mrs that evening.

That is actually quite a scary story, because it means the sheep will follow literally anything these days. It makes me wonder what else these same sheep would be capable of doing to you.
Remember how people ratted on you for leaving your house more than once a day.
Then there is all the people who lost their livelihoods for saying something innocuous but makes the sheep's hair catch fire. Even got convicted, in some cases. The same "crimes" would have been thought perfectly reasonable just 7 or 8 years ago.

I've had major misdiagnoses too as have members of my family. Then of course there is the Covid debacle. With so many instances of this, Occam's Razor is telling me NHS doctors are stupid, dangerous and ignorant - This has gone well beyond a bit of bad luck here or there.
Worst is when people are trusting the NHS enough that they may never know they were misdiagnosed, they just believe what they were told.

That is actually quite a scary story, because it means the sheep will follow literally anything these days. It makes me wonder what else these same sheep would be capable of doing to you.
Remember how people ratted on you for leaving your house more than once a day.
Then there is all the people who lost their livelihoods for saying something innocuous but makes the sheep's hair catch fire. Even got convicted, in some cases. The same "crimes" would have been thought perfectly reasonable just 7 or 8 years ago.

That is actually quite a scary story, because it means the sheep will follow literally anything these days. It makes me wonder what else these same sheep would be capable of doing to you.
Remember how people ratted on you for leaving your house more than once a day.
Then there is all the people who lost their livelihoods for saying something innocuous but makes the sheep's hair catch fire. Even got convicted, in some cases. The same "crimes" would have been thought perfectly reasonable just 7 or 8 years ago.

Dominoes is serious business.

In my view this ties in with the reasons people have doorbell cameras these days or CCTV outside their house as though they're a supermarket. Even road users have cameras including those obnoxious cyclists with stupid GoPros on their head, ready to record and report anyone who pisses them off. All these cameras give the illusion of security but why do they feel they need for security? It's because 1) we're constantly being told to live in fear of the next big threat, and 2) we're indeed turning into a 3rd world country with 3rd world crimes on the rise. The semi-amusing thing is crime is rising in spite of the cameras. Criminals won't stop just because people put up these placebo cameras which their consumerism made them think their new toy will keep them safe.
It's the same with digital payments. Hacking of bank or PayPal accounts happens with monotonous regularity. Then of course there is the easy theft of digital payments by the governments either through taxation or inflation. Businesses are still safer off using cash and saving more money that way.
P.S. I saw a till worker in Boots wearing a bodycam the other day which I thought was rude, and then there are the self-service machines at Tesco which display your face up close. Surely any thief would walk out of the shop with their loot without coming to the self service machine in the first place? But it's us who actually pay, who get our faces filmed up close. I always cover the cameras with my glove. Wish I could have done that to that mare's bodycam too, but that would have intruded on her personal space.
Went off on a tangent towards the end but hey this is the random rant thread! I do want to slap those Go-Pro cyclists though, they're just looking to start trouble!

Watches, art, jewellery are also assets to keep outside the system. Wine too. Lots of things actually.