By Ross Norman
The famous German precious metals company Degussa returns to the bullion markets on Thursday following the purchase of the venerable company name by a wealthy German family. The new Degussa business will be a reversion to the original business in the sense that it will be back to selling physical precious metals to investors. As such, Degussa will be opening their first precious metals outlet in Munich tomorrow, with ambitions to roll out to several other locations in Germany in the near future. There are also plans for an online gold shop but no date has yet been set for the launch.
Heading the company will be bullion expert Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach who until recently headed sales and marketing for another leading precious metals house Heraeus Metallhandelgesellschaft prior to which he was a Head of Precious Metals Trading with Dresdner Bank AG in Frankfurt. Speaking of the launch of the business he added "we are delighted to have the backing of the von Finck family in re-launching this famous name and we very much look forwards to developing the retail physical gold business in Germany".
Degussa will be launching a range of 8 minted bullion bars upwards from 1 gram up and 3 cast gold bars up to a kilo bar. There will also be a range of gold coins on offer. Like the original gold business, the new Degussa will bear the familiar chop with a crescent moon and sun said to represent alchemical symbols for silver and gold. The one ounce gold bar shown below is one of only 2,000 and marks a special edition to commemorate the launch on the business, while ongoing bars will have a chop very similar to the old Degussa mark. The name Degussa is anabbreviation for "Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt" (or German Gold and Silver Metals Separating Works).
The original company, which was founded in 1873 centred in Frankfurt was a leading precious metals refining, trading and fabrication business with a worldwide presence. In 1999 Degussa AG merged to become Degussa-Huels before becoming Evonik Degussa in 2006.
(The author is CEO of Sharps Pixley, London)
