JohnA1

It was also indisputable and immutable
It could be used as proof of fraud, depending on the content.
Now they pretend that everything has to be 'electronic' for speed and efficiency. Bollox.
Without paper and proof of postage from Royal Mail you've got nothing. They can claim anything.

And never trust email through a phone.
If you can't see the real link behind, don't click anything. They rely on people accessing email through phones because they are more vulnerable.
I would only respond to an email from a PC, where I can see the real link behind. This is a big gotcha.

They are getting more sophisticated.
Had an email from telecoms company saying my monthly subscription would be doubling and if i wanted to cancel click on the link. Had my details and account number.
Phoned company and they confirmed the email was from them but the facts were incorrect.
They investigated and found it had happened to others. Turns out someone had hacked their system.  To their credit they told me to set up a 2 step verification and change password.

Wow. It's becoming a clown show! 
Although, I've just had a fraud attempt on me - literally an hour ago, which does make me appreciate that all this nonsense does come with some necessity....
Man called me (claiming to be from my business bank) and the telephone number was an ACTUAL bank account fraud dept number that he'd called from. He asked if I'd made a payment to Airbnb from my business card. I said no. So he said he's cancelled my card and will send a new one. And that was that.
It felt weird.... So I called my bank and they confirmed no fraud on my card so it was deffo a scam. I had not given any info out to him (I know to never do that). So what was in it for him? All sorts has been going through my mind and I was freaked out for a bit.
But I remember he said the new card would be something like 12+ days. I thought it seemed a long-time, but I said it's fine.
So, I am just assuming here, but I'm guessing (inspired from something I've just read on the Internet) that they want you to say "I can't wait that many days for a new card" - they need me to panic, then they can go on to say "Well, we can set up a temporary account for you..." (how they get your info). But it backfired because I am in no rush.
Anyway thought I'd share this info because the fact they can intercepted phone numbers to show as a legit bank number just shows how sophisticated scams are becoming.

I don't do internet banking, so this afternoon I physically went into my local bank branch in order to make a bank transfer.  I was sending my nephew £1,500 to assist him with buying a car.  With the help of one of the assistants in the bank I made the transfer and my nephew's name matched the account details - all good, or so I thought.   When I got back home, after about 20 minutes I received a phone call from my bank's fraud department.  They had blocked the transfer because it was suspicious.  They then asked me some security questions, but when I asked them to prove they really were the bank they did not like it!  The only way to do this would have been to end the phone call and then ring the bank's fraud number on the back of my card.  As I could not be bothered to do this I continued with the conversation.
I explained I had actually spoken to my nephew in the morning and 5 minutes later he sent me an email with the bank transfer details.  However, they did not like the fact he had emailed me the details.  They thought someone else could have intercepted the email and changed the details - even though their own bank system said the name and the account details matched up!  So, they asked me to put them on hold while I contacted my nephew to confirm the details had not been changed!  Now, as someone who is not very technical, I pointed out if I attempted to put them on hold, this would end the call.  I asked them to phone me back in half an hour by which time I might have been able to phone my nephew.  However, they were not able to phone me back, I would have to phone the fraud department.  As I didn't want to do this I said I would phone my nephew on my other telephone and the person in the fraud department could listen in!  So, holding two phones together next to my ear so the person from the fraud department could listen in, I spoke to my nephew, who confirmed the bank details he sent to me!
And the transfer was unblocked! 
I just don't know how you guys make all these bank transfers.

Interesting to note that no central banks hold silver. The last real stockpiles (beyond industrial or bullion brokers) went when silver stopped being used for circulating coinage in the 1960s/70s.

In America, silver has no VAT and thus has much lower spreads than it does here, so it is much easier to stack silver efficiently over there.  You will see a lot of silver stacking YT channels in the US, but the tax conditions and market are very different here, so you should take American stacking channels with a pinch of salt.
Silver is quite hard to stack efficiently in the UK.  VAT really ganks the dealer market, so you can expect to lose about 30% or so of the value if you buy and sell back to dealers.  The only really cost effective way to stack silver is to buy and sell on the secondary market, where you can get much smaller spreads.  As a starting point for this, I suggest you reach out to @theman73 and see what he's got available at the moment.  I've bought plenty of stuff from him in the past; he's a good egg.  Also, keep an eye on the trading forums and get a sense of what things sell for.
Gold has much lower spreads than silver as it doesn't attract VAT.  The entry point for gold is really half sovereigns, although 1/10oz coins often turn up at decent prices on the secondary market (such as here on TSF).  Sovereigns are really the sweet spot for stacking gold here in the UK, as they have a killer combination of low premiums, small size and liquidity and exemption from capital gains tax (they are still technically legal tender and exempt because of this).  Sovereigns aren't the be-all and end-all of stacking gold in the UK, but they are a good starting point.  If you want to buy some sovereigns, I suggest you get in touch with @Belmont, @CallumHSLimited or @shawy2510 as a starting point.  There are other vendors flogging sovs here, so keep an eye on the listings and see what comes up.
If you're going to get into sovereigns, it pays to have a bit of understanding about the numismatics of the coin, for example being able to do a basic assessment of the grade, or knowing which designs or mintages might attract a premium.  Shields are a good example of this as they tend to sell for about 10-15% over spot, where 5% is more normal for sovs.  Get hold of Marsh's The Gold Sovereign, Allen's Grading British Coins and the current edition of Spink's Coins of England and the United Kingdom as a starting point.
Sovs are not the be-all and end-all of stacking gold in the UK; it would also pay to get an idea of the typical premiums associated with other items such as 1oz coins, 1/4oz coins or bars (take a look at Tavex's house brand 1g bars as another entry point to dip your toe into the water with gold).  Look at the prices on the dealer web sites, then take a look at the sales postings here to see what the coins trade for on the secondary market.
Note that the price of gold is quite high at the moment.  I can't give you any advice as to whether it will go up or down in the future, but look into cost averaging as a strategy.  Silver might well go up, and a lot of folks think it will, but I can't give you any prognosis on this either.  However, the huge spreads on the main dealer market mean it would have to really go up a lot in order for you not to lose on it, so you really need to get ofay with the secondary market if you want to do silver.

You won’t pay VAT on second hand silver, although it will still be hidden in the sellers price, however, if you do buy silver, get it on here.

Or... hear me out... ditch the silver Brits and fast forward to Sovereigns like everyone else on The Silver Forum have done...  

Mate theres nothing better than the first month the mortgage payment stops coming out……we kept on paying the mortgage into the joint account for years after, the rate you can save when not paying a mortgage is fantastic. 
not only that you get freedom knowing you don’t have that monkey on your back. 

15-odd years ago I made a spreadsheet with what I was paying every month that was pure interest.
Every card, every loan, mortgage, the lot.
It was a rude awakening, I had gradually settled into a situation where half of my outgoings were interest payments to various lenders. I was working for them, keeping the parasites alive.
I started obsessively overpaying starting from the highest interest and going downwards.
Seven years later this figure reached zero, and will stay there for the rest of my life.
Never again.

Well you can - just calculate the interest part of the payment you were making before and the ones you'll be making now.
Even if your payment amounts seem the same, you'll be now paying more off the capital and less in interest. So fewer payments left.

Well you can - just calculate the interest part of the payment you were making before and the ones you'll be making now.
Even if your payment amounts seem the same, you'll be now paying more off the capital and less in interest. So fewer payments left.

Well you can - just calculate the interest part of the payment you were making before and the ones you'll be making now.
Even if your payment amounts seem the same, you'll be now paying more off the capital and less in interest. So fewer payments left.

Quick update, we took the plunge with option 1) and paid £40k off the mortgage today, a bitter sweet moment!

In the past 13 months we've more than halved the mortgage but at the same time utilised a large part of savings to do so, stack remains untouched and will keep adding as it's another savings plan, although primarily aimed for the kids...
 
A step closer to being mortgage and debt free.

damn too late, thanks Fenlander👍

"hardest money on earth" yet they price it in dollars
 
If they were serious about the 'hard money' bit, they'd be pricing everything in bitcoin. But they aren't..

😉 except a shiny element on the periodic table 😇

Update:
Local high street Barclays branch is now a boarded-up ghost
Changed preferences on Amazon to default to CapitalOne credit card instead of Barclaycard.
Barclaycard updated their app - now there is no reference to 'paperless'
Hmmm...
Bit like the plandemic - they claimed you wouldn't be able to function without their ridiculous certificate, then they back-pedalled and act as if it never happened

Well I went in the Barclaycard account through Internet banking and couldn't find anywhere settings for paperless 'preferences'
Can't trust them to have such settings on the app after I say 'yes'. 
They are currently sending me the balance via text every week. That should do it for now, I repay everything once a month anyway.
 
My local high street branch is closing down shortly - things are moving on bit by bit

Tried to log on to the Barclays app this morning, it pestered me to go paperless - tried to bypass it, nope.
Closed the app, started again - back to the paperless declaration. It suddenly became a condition of use.
If you don't "agree" to go paperless, no app for you..🤬
 
Paperless means you have no way to prove anything at any time. It is their printed figures against your verbal claims.
I see this as another part of the preparation for an extended bank holiday where a lot of 'wealth' will change hands.
Bastids..

Came across this note within Sigma Pro Mini documentation.
Applicable to Sigma 'classic' mainly, but worth checking anyway..
 

Managed to be in the 90% thank God😁 (where the term 'savings' is defined as balances in 'savings accounts')
In this forum we all know that there is an alternative interpretation of 'savings' that has no counterparty risk and is inflation-proof in the long run.
Very long run in the case of silver 😅

Good idea. If it passes the app-based ping test (all three resonance frequencies) then it's unlikely to be fake.
Well, it could still be a fake using the original composition, but the silver content will be there. Numismatic value - who knows eh