Shoppers who are looking for something sparkly to put under the Christmas tree can skip the jewelry and go straight to the source: an ATM that dispenses shiny 24-carat gold bars and coins.
A German company installed the machine Friday at an upscale mall in Boca Raton, a South Florida paradise of palm trees, pink buildings and wealthy retirees.
Thomas Geissler, CEO of Ex Oriente Lux and inventor of the Gold To Go machines, says the majority of buyers will be walk-ups drawn by the novelty. But he says they're also convenient for more serious investors looking to bypass the hassle of buying gold at pawn shops and over the Internet.
"Instead of buying flowers or chocolates, which is gone after two or three minutes, this will stay for the next few hundreds years," Geissler said in a telephone interview.
The company installed its first machine at Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace hotel in May and followed up with gold ATMs in Germany, Spain and Italy. Geissler said they plan to unroll a few hundred machines worldwide in 2011. He said the Abu Dhabi machine has been so popular it has to be restocked every two days.
The gold-leaf-covered machine at Boca Raton's Town Center Mall sits outside a gourmet chocolate store and works just like cash ATMs. Shoppers insert cash or credit cards and use a computer touch-screen to choose the weight and style they want. The machine spits out the gold in a classy black box with a tamper-proof seal.
Each machine, manufactured in Germany, carries about 320 pieces of different-size bars and coins. Prices are refigured automatically every 10 minutes to reflect market fluctuations. At prices from one point last week a 2-gram piece cost about $120, including packaging, certification and a 5 percent markup. An ounce cost about $1,470.
Buyer beware: A gram of the heavy metal is much smaller than you think, about the size of a fingernail.
An ounce is a little larger than a quarter.
Owners said the machine, which will hold about $150,000 in cash and gold, will be flanked by an armed guard for now. Several live security cameras are fixed inside and outside the machine.
The popularity of gold is cyclical, but it's riding high these days in part because of fears stoked by financial collapse.
Dave Jones, who brokered the deal to bring the machines to the U.S., predicts gold will become a parallel currency in the next five years. He said they plan to install about 40 more machines at upscale malls and hotels around the U.S.
The Associated Press
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