Gold ATMs Going Global – A Sign for Currencies?

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Yohay


Gold to Go, the manufacturer of gold ATMs, is working hard to meet the demand for its vending machines. From a gimmick of two machines operating now, their business will grow to 50 quite soon. This is the result of the rising prices in gold. Is this is a sign for the Euro? For the Aussie?

Gold to Go is a German company that created a Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) for buying gold, similar to the everyday action of withdrawing cash – just gold coins or gold bars. The first machine was launched in Abu Dhabi about a month ago, and the second machine started operating in Germany last week. This was only the beginning.

It is now reported that there is high demand for these gold ATMs – they are not a gimmick anymore. The company is working hard on producing 50 additional machines. The ATMs will be deployed in all of Malaysia’s airports, in Italy, Turkey and Russia. Gold rates are updated every 10 minutes according to global gold prices.

Gold and forex

The company’s appeal to average customers shows that physical gold is becoming more popular also outside the electronic charts. While these funny machines aren’t only a gimmick anymore, their scale is still small. But it could be a sign.

This trend is a good sign for Australia, which produces gold, as well as for South Africa and other countries.

But it’s a bad sign for paper money, with weak currencies like the Euro being more vulnerable. One of the outcomes of the recent turmoil in Europe is new highs for paper gold. Gold touched $1250 per ounce on May 14th – a new all-time record. It’s now stable at $1233. The correlation between the Euro’s weakness and the strength of gold is very strong.

The drops in the Euro triggered a rise in gold prices. A rise in the demand for gold could trigger a sell off in the Euro.

While their own currency plunges, European might turn to shining metal. Gold slowly becomes a true “safe haven” currency, like in old times.

Speaking of safe haven currencies, the yen lost its role this week with the resignation of the Japanese Prime Minister. The political uncertainty in Japan may be temporary, but at least for now, gold seems to take the yen’s place, alongside the dollar. The greenback won’t lose its status as the world’s reserve currency. The talks a few months ago were definitely too soon.

The dollar clings to its throne. But gold, physical gold is behind it.