They are paying over $1700+ per ounce of gold in Greece right now !!!

[Large Sarge]

Greek Scramble For Physical Brings Gold Price To $1,700 Per Ounce
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/26/2010 17:57 -0500

Greece New York Stock Exchange Sovereigns


And there are those who wonder how Sprott's PHYS could have traded at "ludicrous" NAV premium of over 20%. Coinupdate.com reports that prices at which the Greek Central Bank is selling one ounce gold equivalents are as high as $1,700 (40% over spot), and prices on the black markets are even higher. The punchline, as Athens slowly returns to a forced gold standard: " A popular spot for street vendors to sell their coins is near the Athens Stock Exchange. There the traders wait for citizens to bring payments received from unloading their paper assets like stocks and bonds." That's good - downtown Manhattan close to the NYSE has some free space for gold vendors to set up shop as well, they just need to push some of the frontrunning/collocation boxes off to the side. And in other rhetorical ruminations, is it safe to say that the last days of the fiat experiment are among us now that people themselves are bypassing the government and enforcing their own gold standard?

[Serpo]

Basically in this situation its ............got to have GOLD

got to have GOLD got to have GOLD

got to have GOLD got to have GOLD

[1970 Silver Art]

Basically in this situation its ............got to have GOLD

got to have GOLD got to have GOLD

got to have GOLD got to have GOLD


But the reality will soon probably be this..................

There will be no gold to buy. If I am wrong and there is gold to buy in Greece, then the price will just go up even more.......maybe to $2000.....$2500.......or more. The time that the Greek people should have bought physical gold was before this crisis. Of course hindsight is 20/20.

[Twisted Titan]

My God ..........Wait till they look at Silver.

[chad]

that's because they're probably first time buyers getting it from goldline.

[Dave Thomas]

that's because they're probably first time buyers getting it from goldline.


I almost spit my coffee all over my screen when I read this!

Good job!

[sirgonzo420]

that's because they're probably first time buyers getting it from goldline.


LOL!

[Twisted Titan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRwK0wb6Nks



VS


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3UaTjzZFY0

[big country]

People will start importing gold if prices stay like that. It'd be worth it to fly there with 20toz, sell it all at Spot+40%. It would pay for the trip and you'd have profits.

I don't have the capital to do that, but I know some do.

[JohnQPublic]

People will start importing gold if prices stay like that. It'd be worth it to fly there with 20toz, sell it all at Spot+40%. It would pay for the trip and you'd have profits.

I don't have the capital to do that, but I know some do.


Shoot! Pretty soon if you can get in with 20 ozt., you culd buy a small Greek island!

[MAGNES]

I doubt this is true for many reasons.

But something to research, I will look into it.

If something serious was coming down the pipe
I would believe it but the Greeks don't even have
their own currency.

I was in Greece in 2005, every Greek household
with older people in it has gold, the papers would
even post bids and asks on Francs, banks would
buy and sell, etc, the spread was about 5%,
lots of Francs and Sovereigns in the country.
Not full but partial. The Francs are
there mostly from the French being allied and
governing the Greeks near the end of the Ottoman
rule as their partners.

[gunDriller]

in this situation, i wonder how the European buyers respond to

1/4 ounce Maples

1/4 ounce Eagles

1/4 ounce Krugs

2 rand coins (.2354 Toz.)

sovereign (.2354 Toz.) - i guess we know how they react to those - they like them !

1/4 ounce Panda

[keehah]

There will be no gold to buy. If I am wrong and there is gold to buy in Greece, then the price will just go up even more.......maybe to $2000.....$2500.......or more. The time that the Greek people should have bought physical gold was before this crisis. Of course hindsight is 20/20.



Even so, gold in the hand tomorrow at $1700 is a bargain then right? ;D

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ta_jA1M7U29X-M:http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/07.09/images/Golden-Bull.jpg

[DMac]

From India:



Gold selling at record 18.8K/10gm (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/72006/gold-selling-record-188k10gm.html)

Gold selling at record 18.8K/10gm
New Delhi, May 27, (PTI):

Gold prices maintained their record level of Rs 18,810 per ten gram in the national capital on Thursday on restricted buying activity.

Standard gold and ornaments were being traded at the record price of Rs 18,810 and Rs 18,660 per ten gram, respectively. However, a sovereign lost Rs 50 to 14,550 per piece of eight gram on lack of buying support.

Marketmen said restricted buying activity at the existing rates kept gold prices stable at Wednesday’s record level. The price of silver, on the other hand, rose further by Rs 150 to Rs 29,700 per kg on sustained buying by industrial units and jewellery fabricators.

That comes out to 58499.1 Rupees per ounce of Gold ($1250) and 923.77 per ounce silver ($19. 75).

India is the world’s number one consumer of gold, accounting for almost a fifth of gold sales (http://www.currentbusinessnews.net/indian-wedding-season-increases-demand-for-gold/). The $1250 is the price and they are not in any sort of holiday buying mode. The next holiday buying time isn't until September.




Greece is an excellent example of what is going to happen globally.

[uranian]

I doubt this is true for many reasons.

But something to research, I will look into it.

any news? if it's true i'm considering a wee holiday in greece!

[JohnQPublic]

A Message to our Greek Friends:
(phonetic)

Λοοκ Γρεες
(look Grees)


Γολδ σοβερενς, ανδ ρεελ χεεπ, τοο (http://www.apmex.com/Product/17/Great_Britain_Gold_Sovereigns___Almost_Uncirculate d_or_Better.aspx)
(gold soverens, and cheep too)

193 λεφτ!
(193 left !)

:o

[MNeagle]

Gold Sales to Europe Jump on Greek Debt Crisis, Perth Mint Says

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Gold sales to Europe from the Perth Mint surged in May as the Greek sovereign-debt crisis triggered a flight to haven investments, draining stockpiles at the producer of 6 percent of the world’s bullion.

Buyers from the continent accounted for 69 percent of gold- coin purchases last month compared with 51 percent a year ago, said Ron Currie, sales and marketing director. Individual German investors also bought silver, seeking to protect their wealth with “poor man’s gold,” Currie said from Western Australia.

Greece’s fiscal crisis roiled financial markets worldwide, driving the euro lower. Gold reached a record in May as sovereign-debt risks escalated. The mint is working at full capacity with 20 percent more staff than a year ago, Currie said.

“As soon as it was announced the European Commission was bailing out Greece, the German population decided they’d better hedge their euros by buying precious metals,” Currie said in an interview yesterday. “We had stock before this blip in the market, then it all went.”

Spot gold traded at $1,207.80 an ounce at 7:44 a.m. in Singapore today compared with last month’s record of $1,249.40 and $1,096.95 at the end of last year. The precious metal has gained for nine straight years. Silver, which peaked this year at $19.8275 an ounce on May 13, traded today at $17.9925.

‘Safety of Gold’

“Anyone throughout Europe who understands how the euro is being debased is seeking the safety of gold,” said James Turk, founder of GoldMoney.com, an online gold-buying and storage service that has passed $1 billion of customer assets. The metal may advance further next week, a Bloomberg survey showed.

“The gold market in Europe, and particularly in Germany, has just taken off,” Currie said from the 111-year-old mint, which was founded on the back of a gold rush in the state that accounts for 62 percent of the nation’s mineral production.

“People in Germany are buying silver, which leads me to believe it’s the moms and pops stocking up on ‘poor man’s gold’,” said Currie. “They could be storing it in their homes or burying it in their gardens.”

The mint, controlled by the Western Australian government, has 300 staff and doubled capacity in the past 18 months, Currie said, declining to give a total output figure for coins and bars, or the value of the bullion stored on behalf of buyers. Investors can opt to buy and store gold at the mint, or buy coins to hold themselves.

‘Greeks Changed Everything’

“We came off the highs of the global crisis, we were rolling along at a steady pace for a while and the Greeks changed everything,” said Currie. Standard & Poor’s cut Greece’s rating to junk status on April 27.

The rush for bullion in May at the Perth Mint was matched overseas. The U.S. Mint sold 190,000 ounces of American Eagle gold coins last month, the most since December.

CME Group Inc., the world’s largest futures market, said gold-futures trading rose to a record in May. Gold trading on the Comex unit was 4.82 million contracts, exceeding the 4.57 million record set in January, the Chicago-based CME said June 2.

“Sales have come off the highs of the global financial crisis, but they haven’t fallen anywhere near to where they were before the crisis,” Currie said. In the 12 months to June 30, sales of the mint’s 1-ounce Kangaroo and other gold coins may fall by about 16 percent to about 350,000 ounces from the year before, Currie said. Silver will match that drop even as sales of that metal spiked in the past two months, he said.

‘Volatile Market’

“It’s a volatile market and you can’t pick what’s going to happen from day to day,” Currie said. “The Indian market isn’t what it was, jewelry sales are down, but the ETFS are up and the overall gold price is still high. Our assumption is that volatility will continue.”

Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, rose to a record 1,268.23 tons on June 2. India’s gold imports may reach a 12-month low of 15 tons to 17 tons in May as rising prices slowed imports, the Business Standard reported yesterday, citing Suresh Hundia, president of the Bombay Bullion Association.

Western Australia produces 6 percent of the world’s gold, valued at A$5 billion in the year to June 30, 2009, according to state government figures. The mint processes all the gold mined in Australia as well as imports of scrap from overseas, Currie said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akSw6Ev3Lgs0&pos=7

[uranian]

i don't understand why greeks are buying gold from australia, when they have much more local markets (i know of a couple of places in europe where it's been possible to buy modern, non-numi unloved gold coins at very close to spot, prices are up a little now but there's still stock), but i do understand why they're after gold :-)

[uranian]

judging from the web, there still seems little interest in greece in gold. i searched (http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%CF%87%CF%81%CF%85%CF%83%CE%AC+%CE%BD%CE% BF%CE%BC%CE%AF%CF%83%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%B1+%CE%B 1%CE%B3%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%AC%CE%B6%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%BD&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a) in (google translated) greek for "buy gold coins", gold sovereign krugerrand, that kind of thing, i see zero online shops, and barely any hits at all. there's one forum (http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://www.124sold.gr/forum/showthread.php%3Fp%3D26549&ei=8z4JTLKpIpCi0gTKtZFu&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEQQ7gEwBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%25CF%2587%25CF%2581%25CF%2585%25CF%2 583%25CE%25AC%2B%25CE%25BD%25CE%25BF%25CE%25BC%25C E%25AF%25CF%2583%25CE%25BC%25CE%25B1%25CF%2584%25C E%25B1%2B%25CE%25B1%25CE%25B3%25CE%25BF%25CF%2581% 25CE%25AC%25CE%25B6%25CE%25BF%25CF%2585%25CE%25BD% 2Bsite:124sold.gr%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfir efox-a%26hs%3DJob%26tbo%3Dp%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Dqdr:m) discussing the price of a gold sov and where it's going, with a poll, 5 votes on the poll. hardly falling over themselves to buy gold, it seems.

[gunDriller]

judging from the web, there still seems little interest in greece in gold. i

hardly falling over themselves to buy gold, it seems.


when i lived there as a teenager, we used to go shopping in Athens.

you could pretty much buy anything you wanted. my older brother was interested in making fireworks so he would go down there and buy potassium perchlorate (basically rocket fuel).

my guess is, there are some good coin dealers in Athens but they just don't have websites.

i think the thing about Greeks buying Sovereigns at street kiosks was sort of a "slow news day" kind of article. articles about people buying condoms or newspapers at kiosks just don't attract that many readers.

it sounds like there are real shortages of physical in Europe though.

why do we have access to physical in the US and they're having problems getting physical in Europe ?

anyway, from what a few people are saying, within a month, we'll be having shortages of physical here in the US.

[JohnQPublic]

judging from the web, there still seems little interest in greece in gold. i searched (http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%CF%87%CF%81%CF%85%CF%83%CE%AC+%CE%BD%CE% BF%CE%BC%CE%AF%CF%83%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%B1+%CE%B 1%CE%B3%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%AC%CE%B6%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%BD&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a) in (google translated) greek for "buy gold coins", gold sovereign krugerrand, that kind of thing, i see zero online shops, and barely any hits at all. there's one forum (http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://www.124sold.gr/forum/showthread.php%3Fp%3D26549&ei=8z4JTLKpIpCi0gTKtZFu&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEQQ7gEwBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%25CF%2587%25CF%2581%25CF%2585%25CF%2 583%25CE%25AC%2B%25CE%25BD%25CE%25BF%25CE%25BC%25C E%25AF%25CF%2583%25CE%25BC%25CE%25B1%25CF%2584%25C E%25B1%2B%25CE%25B1%25CE%25B3%25CE%25BF%25CF%2581% 25CE%25AC%25CE%25B6%25CE%25BF%25CF%2585%25CE%25BD% 2Bsite:124sold.gr%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfir efox-a%26hs%3DJob%26tbo%3Dp%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Dqdr:m) discussing the price of a gold sov and where it's going, with a poll, 5 votes on the poll. hardly falling over themselves to buy gold, it seems.


I think most of the Greeks are buying gold directly from their banks. They just transfer the money and get the coins (mainly Sovereigns).

[uranian]

fair points, but you'd think there'd be at least a few posts on greek forums about this, wouldn't you? guess we'll see how the developing shortage goes. don't see major signs (http://www.goldline.co.uk/bullionCoinsPage.page) of it yet in the UK.

[JohnQPublic]

fair points, but you'd think there'd be at least a few posts on greek forums about this, wouldn't you? guess we'll see how the developing shortage goes. don't see major signs (http://www.goldline.co.uk/bullionCoinsPage.page) of it yet in the UK.


Uranian:

I am not disagreeing with you. I just pointed out a fact (i.e., Greek's are buying it from their banks).

There is evidence that German retail supply is low (http://gold-silver.us/forum/gold/euro-gold-is-trying-to-make-a-new-all-time-high/). The German's have most of the money, so they are buying most of the gold. That the Greeks are scrambling for Sovereigns is a rumor at this point. As for UK, well they sold most of their gold at the bottom... ;)

I do not see strong evidence of shortages (http://gold-silver.us/forum/gold-silver-precious-metals/apmex-precious-metals-retail-supply-index/) in the US yet.

[MAGNES]

fair points, but you'd think there'd be at least a few posts on greek forums about this, wouldn't you? guess we'll see how the developing shortage goes. don't see major signs (http://www.goldline.co.uk/bullionCoinsPage.page) of it yet in the UK.


Greeks are just about as brainwashed as everyone else.

But Greeks in Greece don't trust authority, I just visited
a few times in my life, last time was 2005 for 6 weeks in
summer, we have a family home, very spartan. ;D

@ John, yes that is my experience, they buy it from the banks,
with my own eyes I saw bid asks at banks and in papers for
French francs, back then in 2005 they were in the bid ask
90 Euro range each +/- 5 Euro, the spread was about that
too, 5 Euro, also there are black market buyers sellers or
shops, etc, saw that too, but you have to be careful, there
is fake gold or copies of the French Francs even, they are
used for jewelry too, dowries, etc. Tried online to look for
copies of papers with no success with bid asks.

@ GunDriller, I only visited Athens once in my life that was when
I was a kid way back in 1988. We had fun and apparently the place
has changed so much, the night time hangouts down down near
Omonia are no go areas, that is how bad it is now, that was the
center of the riots too in 2008. There was even German backpackers
staying on the sidewalks overnight with no problems, lol , I was amazed.

[PatColo]

Krugerrand Production at 25-Year High as European Debt Crisis Fuels Demand (http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-03/krugerrand-production-at-25-year-high-as-european-debt-crisis-fuels-demand.html)