Ushao

This arrived last month, but I thought I would show it as my Forum avatar is derived from it.  The coin is a one ounce silver $2 from Niue - it is part of their 2021 Tarot card series.

Absolutely love this little 1887 shilling. Some nice netherlands coins too!

Today I received a tube of Goddess Europa from @GreatBritishBullion. I normally only stack Britannia for a store of wealth and collect others for my collection being from the UK. But I recently bought the Eagle, Maple, Philharmonics, Kangaroo and Krugerrand and I thought I would buy the low premium tube to give me a feel for the Goddess Europa which is a cheap and low cost stacker for storing wealth from a private mint. They were a good variety at a good price. I must say I do love the look and feel and symbolism of this inspirational bullion from a new and small mint though my favourite are still the classical and traditional ones!

Another 1500g of this stuff 🤤

Experimenting closeup shots with a phone camera. Bullion completer.   

My 2021 Gold Expedition 
 
 
 

Only a small delivery today. Half sov lucky dip from Atkinsons again. This time a 2015 bullion half sovereign. I think these are fairly scarce at less than 500 mintage? It's absolutely mint too.

Fractional golden lunars. 

My first-ever coins tube + 2 very nice coins. 

Back from grading: 3 x 70, 2 x 69. Especially happy that one of the double sovereigns graded a 70 DPL.
Unfortunately hard to get my hands on decently prized 5 oz Russian coins atm. If anyone is selling, please let me know.

My first Gold Soveriegn purchased right here on TSF, a '58 1 Soveriegn.
 
 

 
Many thanks to @Nick1368

@GreatBritishBullion @EuropaBullion
Stunning, well done 🙂
Best budget silver coin on the market, hands down. 

I have change my mind  
Over payments when comparing investing vs over payments over the same time frames - ie, saving 5 years from the mortgage vs investing for the same time frame, the compounding effect is lessened which makes it easier to justify the over payments. 
Although on paper you are better off investing by several thousand if you can find the return, and if you use long time horizons then the compounding returns win easily - nothing is guaranteed over such a time period and I am not convinced such a return, or the earned capital, could be reliably maintained. There is also the question/risk of interest rates rising. The idea of eliminating a recurring living cost several years early is very attractive. Although overpaying is a rather low return, it is a guaranteed return in saved interest, vs a speculative bet on compounding returns which only really matter over significant time frames. I think I can live with the lost paper capital that may or may not have come to pass in exchange for the guaranteed returns (financial and otherwise) of paying off the debt early.

Thanks chaps,
When I calculated the 'equivalent return' on making overpayments on the mortgage, it is just over 1% return on the money in saved interest. The time saved on the mortgage might make it worth doing, as it will mean one less financial commitment sooner and reduce the risk of exposure to interest rate rises, but a 1% return on cash is poor when greater compounding returns can be made elsewhere. The other reason to pay debt off early is that to not do so is basically a speculation that interest rates will stay low and manageable over the term, which in itself is a risk. The numbers only make sense not to overpay right now - if interest rates rise, I would be better off with a smaller mortgage on which to pay interest obviously. 
At the end of 25 years (on paper), if rates stay low I will be much, much better off investing in yield assets, and if rates go up at any point the option of overpaying is still there. If rates go up considerably later, and yield investments do very badly at the same time meaning the capital is not available to reduce the debt, then I may regret this course. 
If the numbers change then the plan will change but right now its makes sense not to overpay at all, and to invest everything instead. Wish me luck    

Great thread. Everyone wants financial independence and I have a similar goal, but that doesn't mean I won't continue to work as I believe work fulfills an important human requirement.
Firstly, I agree with your views on property. That goose is dead, and when (not if) the crash comes, many overleveraged people will be wiped out and the accompanying economic recession will be much worse than 2008-09. That said, I do believe that eventually owning your own home at a sensible price (ideally around x200 gross rent) is an important part of becoming financially independent, but those sort of prices wont return until there is a violent price reset.
 
I also agree that, unless you are VERY savvy, PMs are likely not the way to future prosperity. Of course, some of many of us discussing this are trying to get to that "very savvy" pointy end, but you have to be very contrarian to do so, and I'm not sure that we are at that stage of the commodities market these days as we were in 2000-2002. PMs main role is to preserve purchasing power, which is not the same as building wealth. There may be, indeed surely will be, a time where PMs have their moment in the sun and offer the chance of a big return, but for the most part it is "insurance".
The rules of building wealth are simple (but not easy):
-maximize your earnings
-minimize your expenditures
-invest wisely in proven sustainable, wealth-building assets when they are attractively priced
-diversify to spread your risk around, but only as much as you need and only invest in what you understand
-avoid chasing a fast buck and making mistakes which can wipe out your capital. A 10% loss just needs a 11% rise to recover, a 90% loss needs a 1000% rise to return.
Most of the time none of this comes easy or quickly, and in today's environment cheap money has inflated every asset price (except commodities) so your choices are limited. But if making money was easy then more people would be rich!
I also think that setting a time frame for such "blue sky" goals is not a good idea. Maximize your own potential and focus on smaller deliverables. See where you are in 2 years time. Most of us are seeking the same goals and working a lifetime to get there!

I'm going to attract haters.
You'll never achieve financial independence through PMs. Sorry.

Hi,
Gold is highly liquid, well priced and if you are thinking about making a turn on buying and selling gold or silver you may be disappointed.
People don’t sell gold cheaply, not can you sell at a great deal over spot unless the market moves.  
 
Gold works best as a mechanism to preserve wealth over the long term.  
 
Best
Dicker

Hi,
£1,500 isn’t a huge amount mate and it’s probably wise to keep that as a cash emergency fund. Even I’ve had to cash in the odd gold coin for an emergency cash flow need.
Why not just start investing in one full sovereign each month? Start saving in gold rather than cash but keep your £1,500 just in case next months salary doesn’t come in when expected etc.

i am living in my mother's basement - have you seen the inflation down here? i think i'll have to move .... into a cardboard box in a lake.

Anyone who thinks inflation is less than 2% must be living in their mother's basement.
If you own/rent a house, pay the utilities, run a car (or two) and put enough food on the table for a family of four, then you know inflation is hovering around 10%.

Most of my gold collection, excluding silver,  platinum, and numismatic...
 

Special delivery is specifically geared up for sending cash and precious metals; it is handled differently. There are various insurance tiers, the minimum defaults to £500.

Gold Libertad 2020 !
  I have other beautiful coins coming back from grading. Pictures coming later    
 

Hello dear collector friends,
I recently acquired these beautiful pieces. 2oz Antique Finished Samoa Samurai Mask in very nice 3 D minting technique and a cast 10oz bar as an arrowhead from the Bison Bullion.
Wish you all a nice weekend.
Greetings from Maxe.