Investors from the euro zone have increased gold buying as the instability in Greece increased the demand for possible alternatives to the single currency.
Demand for sovereign gold coins by Greek consumers was two times the five-month average last June, according to an official statement from the UK Royal Mint. Meanwhile, an online vendor (CoinInvest.com) revealed sales during the weekend reached the peak since limited cash withdrawals happened in Cyprus two years ago due to the surge of buyers from Greece, Germany and France.
Traders are currently looking for safe options following the move of Athens to impose capital restrictions, closed private banks and discontinued selling of gold coins to investors until July 6.
According to the director of CoinInvest.com (Daniel Marburger), people realized the importance of gold commodities when banks started to shut down.
Meanwhile, gold futures went up 0.5 percent and settled at $1,179 per ounce at the New York COMEX. The precious metal has dropped 11 times during the last 12 months.
Gold Core, which sells and purchases gold bars, disclosed demand for coins and bars increased significantly at the start of this week. Sales to Ireland and the UK increased three times more than the average during the last three Mondays. On the other hand, the US Mint disposed of 61,500 ounces of gold coins (American eagle) in June which is the most since January.
Bullion Vault, which claims to operate the biggest web-based trading platform for physical gold, reported an increase in sales during the first part of 2015. This is an indication of a broader increase.
Customers from all over the world added 1.4 metric tons of gold to their respective accounts which is the most substantial growth since 2012, based on the press release from London-based Bullion Vault. It appears that majority of their clients prefer their gold to be stored in Switzerland.