I've been buying and selling metal for ages ... pleased to say my last major buy was at $320 an ounce for gold and $4.45 for silver

Great hedges. Tou touch on a couple of the points from the thread:
1) Getting a safe deposit box is a good idea if you cannot provide a secure physical environment for the bullion.
2) Buying gold and silver in anticipation of a societal crash is a retarded idea. If there is a significant societal crash no one is going to give a shit about gold and silver that doesn't already -- the only ones using it for money post-apocalypse will be the same ones agitating for using it now (not to be vindictive -- this group happens to include myself; I'm just not a moron who thinks that people will suddenly say, "Oh, it was gold and silver that we needed to be using!" and that I will be the ruler of Alabama after the fall because I am Very Wise.)
3) I third, fourth and fifth APMEX -- they are great.
CNI has great prices if you're buying in quantity, and their service is top-notch. If you're interested in gold and silver numismatics PM me; I have some great private sources (ie. collectors and investors as opposed to storefronts.)
4) Stay away from ETFs. It is simply not gold. You can't make any claim against most commodity ETFs unless the fund goes into default -- might as well just invest in futures. If you are interested in digital management of a physical gold and silver asset to which you can actually gain access, have a look at
GoldMoney. You can fund and defund straight out of your bank account in most countries, which makes for fun speculating on spot price, you can transfer out via Kitco and other bullion dealers into small denomination stuff, or bail out the big stuff if you have sufficient balance available.
Frank