Gold is very popular as an investment among Austrian households. The sharp rise in price doesn’t change that much; on Monday the precious metal reached a new record of almost 4,400 US dollars for a troy ounce. Or to put it another way: For the first time, the equivalent of 3,765 euros was due for 31.1 grams of gold. Will the Christ child still put a lot of coins under the Christmas tree this year? “Absolutely,” says Eva-Maria Klement, press spokeswoman for the Austrian Mint. Demand is high, sometimes the queues in front of the sales outlets are longer, sometimes a little shorter. At Christmas, collector coins are in demand as “nice gifts,” as are investment coins such as the Philharmonic Orchestra or smaller gold bars.
