Because there are goldbugs, and also tourists, even in major metropolitan areas, 57th Street is home to a “Gold to go” ATM, which is basically the opposite of a Bitcoin ATM. ScoutingNY reports that prices update every minute, but a one-ounce bar, complete with “an attractive gift box,” goes for about $1,327 depending on the market rate. (You can also get silver, but why settle?)
“They’ll be outfitted like an armored vehicle,” said the fancy vending machine’s German founder, Thomas Geissler, back in 2009, when the financial crisis had him searching for ways to bring attention to his precious metals website. “We’re going to put them in places like Russia, and the boys are not exactly demure over there.”
“Over a good glass of Bordeaux we came up with the idea of doing a promotion using the machines, and it flowed from that,” he added. Sounds about right.
“No one knows how these experiments of the central banks will work out,” Geissler offered. “When you close your eyes, you can’t possibly imagine that this will go well.” Carrying around bars of gold in Bill de Blasio’s New York, on the other hand …
