Gold To Go: gold from a vending machine, how cool is that?
An ATM from which you can withdraw gold bars. Gold To Go is a good example of how good we have it in the first world and it’s closer than you think!
Do you ever have that, that you walk down the street and think: shit, I don’t have any cash in my pocket at all? No me neither. Yet these people are there, at least that makes Gold To Go think to respond to an apparently existing need.
Gold To Go
The idea is very simple: it is an ATM for gold. That is, you put money in the machine and gold comes out. This can vary from small gold coins to real gold bars. Who wants that? Apparently rich people in the United Arab Emirates. About ten years ago the first Gold To Go machine was installed there and it happened with a lot of fanfare. Real 24 carat gold just by throwing money into a vending machine: bizarre.
Monitor
Gold-To-Go may seem like a low-budget solution to something as extravagant as gold, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good target for a thud. Everything is carefully monitored and the gold is extra well protected. The machine can hold about ten gold bars of capacity. The exchange rate in 2011 was about $1,250 per ounce, which would be about $35,000 per gram when converted. Not cheap, but you also have real gold.
Expansion
The machines have been in Abu Dhabi and Dubai for a while now, but nowadays Gold To Go can be found in more places than you think. The parent company is German and they also want to place more and more devices in their own country. Several are already spread across Germany, including a shopping center in Munich. For all your need in gold bars that you can get on the road: it remains a bizarre idea.
