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Germans hoarding mountains of gold
Published: 12 Dec 12 12:23 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20121212-46729.html
Like Scrooge McDuck or the dragon Smaug in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Germans are gathering vast quantities of gold - a study showed that the average German owns close to €6,000 worth of the shiny metal.
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Around 32 percent of the gold owned in Germany in the form of bars and coins was accumulated since the financial and economic crises began, the study concluded.
Commissioned by precious metal trading group Heraeus, the study also found that people with surplus cash are becoming gold-greedier. The number of Germans with a net monthly income over €4,000 who say they intend to invest in gold has doubled in the current year.
On average, every German owns around 117 grammes of gold, comprising 55 grammes of jewellery and 62 grammes of bars and coins, the study, which surveyed 2,000 people, found. Taken together with gold securities, the average German owns some €5,750 of gold.
Including the German federal bank's gold holdings, that means the Germans have gathered seven percent of the world's gold.
Gold is considered a safe investment in times of economic stress because the precious metal is thought to keep its value over a long period, can be collected and kept safe personally, and can be traded easily.
Some 69 percent of Germans have invested in gold, and roughly half of these keep at least some the metal in their homes. Around 47 percent keep their gold in a private locker in a bank. Around nine percent, meanwhile, keep some of their precious metals with a specialized gold trader.
Rich people are more likely to invest in gold bars, while those on lower incomes are more likely to buy gold coins.
The Local/bk
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Your comments about this article:
I wonder where they learned about hoarding gold? Six thousand euros worth for the average German is substancial.
¦quot;The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.¦quot;
The Rich people are hoarding, hiding and protecting their money from the Proletariat's Government. It is time for the Proletariat to reclaim this Gold! This is why Gold is illegal in all Communist countries. Come, comrades, it is time!
There you are king old chap.
So, "on average every German owns €5750 of gold"? I think not.
Native Germans I know are experiencing hardships at the moment and for you guys to splash such a headline "mountains of gold" is an insult to these souls. Average German - how did this study arrive at this average thing? Utter BULLS..T !
Banks neglect this who are increasingly hoarding gold today. It is not an investment until it is sold at a higher value than it was bought. Historically, excluding today's bubble like many in the past, it is no investment at all, and usually worth what it was back in the 1800's relative to that currency for example.
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