Selling Goldhere is a article off the Mine Web News Letter.......as Shultz used to say.....verrry interesting ....Richard
German firm plans gold ATMs to feed explosive growth in physical gold demand
AGerman asset management firm plans to set up 500 gold automatic tellermachines across Germany, Austria and Switzerland as appetite forphysical gold surges.
Author: Peter Starck
Posted:Wednesday,20 May 2009
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -
Privateinvestors should hold up to 15 percent of their wealth in physicalgold, according to a German asset management company which plans to setup 500 "Gold-To-Go" ATMs in Germany, Switzerland and Austria this year.
A gold-dispensing automatic teller machine (ATM) was on display atFrankfurt's main railway station for a one-day marketing test onTuesday.
A one-gram (0.0353 ounce) piece of gold, the size of a child'slittle fingernail and about as thin, cost 31 euros ($42.25) -- a 30percent premium to the spot market price.
The flat rectangular piece, bearing the imprint of Belgian metals and speciality materials firm Umicore (UMI.BR: Quote), came out of the cash-only ATM in a tin box, including a certificate of authenticity.
"This is more than a marketing gimmick," said Thomas Geissler, chiefexecutive of TG-Gold-Super-Markt.de, the company planning to set up the500 gold ATMs at a cost of 20,000 euros apiece.
"It is an appetizer for a strategic investment in precious metals.Gold is an asset everyone should have, between 5 and 15 percent of yourliquid assets in physical gold," he told Reuters in an interview.
DEMAND
Private investor demand for gold is on the rise in Germany andelsewhere as a result of the financial markets crisis, which has mademany investors wary of holding traditional assets such as equities,bonds or mutual funds investing in such securities.
"In absolute numbers, the demand for physical gold is still tiny inGermany," Geissler said. "But in relative terms, the growth isexplosive, inquiries have been doubling every six weeks," Geissler saidof the trend in recent months.
TG-Gold-Super-Mark.de's main precious metals business idea is based on online commerce.
The gold ATMs to be set up at central locations such as airports,railway stations and shopping malls are intended to gradually accustompeople to the idea of investing in physical gold, Geissler said.
The ATMs will dispense 1-gram, 5-gram and 10-gram pieces of gold aswell as Krugerrand gold coins. Each ATM can hold up to 1,500 pieces, hesaid.
The company's internet website (www.gold-super-mark.de), throughwhich investors can purchase units between 1 gram and 1,000 grams, isupdating precious metals prices every 10 minuntes.
The ATMs will be equipped with technology ensuring that the prices charged by the ATMs keep pace with those on the website.
TG-Gold-Super-Markt.de is a subsidiary of German online investmentfund company INFOS GmbH founded in 1994. INFOS now manages 170 millioneuros worth of assets on behalf of about 5,000 customers.
© Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.