Gold
sold like chocolate from German vending machines By Murray Wardrop
Published: 7:30AM BST 17 Jun 2009
Shoppers
in Germany will soon be able to buy gold as easily as bars
of chocolate after a firm announced plans to install vending
machines selling the precious metal across the country.
TG-Gold-Super-Markt aims to introduce
the machines at 500 locations including train stations and
airports in Germany.
The company, based near Stuttgart, hopes to
tap into the increasing interest in buying gold following
disillusionment in other investments due to the economic downturn.
Gold prices from the machines – about 30 per
cent higher than market prices for the cheapest product –
will be updated every few minutes.
Customers using a prototype "Gold to
go" machine at Frankfurt Airport on Tuesday had the choice
of purchasing a 1g wafer of gold for €30, a 10g bar for €245,
or gold coins.
A camera on the machine monitors transactions
for money laundering controls.
Thomas Geissler, who owns the company behind
the idea, said: "German investors have always preferred
to hold a lot of personal wealth in gold, for historical reasons.
They have twice lost everything.
"Gold is a good thing to have in your
pocket in uncertain times."
Interest in gold has risen during the financial
crisis, particularly in Germany, according to GFMS, the London-based
precious metals consultancy.
Retail demand reached an estimated 108 tonnes
in 2008, up from 36 tonnes in 2007 and 28 tonnes in 2006.
Jens Willenbockel, an investment banker who
saw the machine while passing through the airport, told the
Financial Times that he believed there could be a market for
the venture.
"Because of the crisis there is a lot
of awareness of gold," he said. "It is also a great
gift for children – for them getting gold is like a fairytale."