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Fears that the euro is heading for collapse have prompted panic buying of gold coins and bars in parts of continental Europe, according to industry players.
Austria’s mint, which makes the region’s best-selling gold coin, warned this week it may run out of stock as investors seek a safe haven from Europe’s tumbling currency.
And banking giant UBS reported its Zurich and Geneva sales desks are ‘exceptionally busy’ coping with heightened demand for coins and small bars, much of it coming from Germany.
Swiss refinery Argor-Heraeus estimates demand for small gold bars and minted products has jumped tenfold since the start of the year.
The news came as the euro took another dive amid fears the £640bn EU/IMF rescue plan hatched up over the weekend would fail to secure the single currency’s future.
Against the dollar, the single currency sank under $1.254. That was not far from the 14-month low of $1.25 it struck one week ago.
Marcus Grubb, a managing director at the World Gold Council, an industry body representing miners, said anecdotal evidence was flooding in of a sharp increase in purchases of coins.
Much of the buying is concentrated in Germany, but Austria and Switzerland are also seeing increased purchases, he told the Mail.
'There has been a spike in demand for physical products in the past week or so as a result of the volatility caused by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe,' said Mr Grubb.
‘Scepticism about the euro has been strongest in Germany. Retail investors are voting with their feet and buying gold coins. They are concerned about the prospects for the currency.’
The market price of gold traded at $1,233.95 a troy ounce yesterday, shy of the record $1,248.15 it hit on Wednesday.
Gold bars and coins are seen as a safe haven when there are fears that paper currencies could lose their value.
At the height of the banking crisis in 2008, for example, the US mint suspended sales of popular Buffalo and American Eagle coins because of a flood of demand.
More recently money-printing programmes in the US and Britain have fuelled fears of inflation, and these have now spread to the euro area.
This week the European Central Bank announced it would purchase government bonds, in a move similar to the Quantitative Easing policy undertaken by the Bank of England.
Meanwhile some economists are warning that Greece remains headed for a debt default, and that its woes could spread to other eurozone countries, threatening the future of the euro.
Portugal and Spain are seen as particularly vulnerable because of their heavy debt loads.
Austria’s mint, which makes the region’s best-selling gold coin, warned this week it may run out of stock as investors seek a safe haven from Europe’s tumbling currency.
And banking giant UBS reported its Zurich and Geneva sales desks are ‘exceptionally busy’ coping with heightened demand for coins and small bars, much of it coming from Germany.
Swiss refinery Argor-Heraeus estimates demand for small gold bars and minted products has jumped tenfold since the start of the year.
The news came as the euro took another dive amid fears the £640bn EU/IMF rescue plan hatched up over the weekend would fail to secure the single currency’s future.
Against the dollar, the single currency sank under $1.254. That was not far from the 14-month low of $1.25 it struck one week ago.
Marcus Grubb, a managing director at the World Gold Council, an industry body representing miners, said anecdotal evidence was flooding in of a sharp increase in purchases of coins.
Much of the buying is concentrated in Germany, but Austria and Switzerland are also seeing increased purchases, he told the Mail.
'There has been a spike in demand for physical products in the past week or so as a result of the volatility caused by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe,' said Mr Grubb.
‘Scepticism about the euro has been strongest in Germany. Retail investors are voting with their feet and buying gold coins. They are concerned about the prospects for the currency.’
The market price of gold traded at $1,233.95 a troy ounce yesterday, shy of the record $1,248.15 it hit on Wednesday.
Gold bars and coins are seen as a safe haven when there are fears that paper currencies could lose their value.
At the height of the banking crisis in 2008, for example, the US mint suspended sales of popular Buffalo and American Eagle coins because of a flood of demand.
More recently money-printing programmes in the US and Britain have fuelled fears of inflation, and these have now spread to the euro area.
This week the European Central Bank announced it would purchase government bonds, in a move similar to the Quantitative Easing policy undertaken by the Bank of England.
Meanwhile some economists are warning that Greece remains headed for a debt default, and that its woes could spread to other eurozone countries, threatening the future of the euro.
Portugal and Spain are seen as particularly vulnerable because of their heavy debt loads.