Commodity Online
FRANKFURT: Have you ever tried to buy Gold from a vending machine? Not yet. But you can try it at Frankfurt airport in Germany. 

TG-Gold-Super-Markt, a German company, has installed a vending machine at the airport this week and the demand is really encouraging.

The vending machines called Gold to Go are a bi hit with people and TG-Gold is planning to introduce more such machines in the coming days.

All you have to do to buy your gold is insert your euros in the slot and a prettily wrapped bar of the world’s favourite precious metal thuds into the dispenser. It's very convenient — no waiting time — you just put in your cash and a minute later you are an investor in gold.

There is a long queue of passengers in front of the machine mulling whether to buy one gramme, 5 grammes or ten grammes of gold.

The company cautions against using its tiny 1g, 5g and 10g offerings for investment – with their presentation cases they are better as gifts.

The one-gramme bar was available for €30 (£25). Other options — rather like a high-end Coffee machine it has five selections — included a Maple Leaf Five Canadian dollar coin and a Kangaroo Fifteen Australian dollar coin. Both represent about one tenth of an ounce of gold and the price on today was hovering around €80.

The price is updated every 15 minutes. The vending machine is linked to the computer which the company uses for its online Gold outlet.

The margins are lower than those offered by banks but fluctuate at about 20 per cent higher than market prices. That is the price of being able to pick up your gold before boarding an aircraft and having it packaged in a metal case labelled ‘My Golden Treasure’.

A less sophisticated version of this Gold to Go machine was installed in Frankfurt’s main railway station last month and has been doing well. The company hopes to put 500 of the machines throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

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.
 
A camera on the machine monitors transactions for money laundering controls.

Thomas Geissler, who owns the company behind the idea, told mediapersons that 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.

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