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A vending machine that sells gold is installed in a Florida mall

A Florida-based incubator company has deployed the first vending machine in the United States that sells gold coins and gold bars to consumers.

December 20, 2010

A Florida-based incubator company has deployed the first vending machine in the United States that sells gold coins and gold bars to consumers.

The so-called Gold to go ATM dispenses .999 pure Credit Suisse gold bullion bars and U.S. minted American Eagle Gold Coins. Consumers deposit cash in the machine to complete a purchase.

PMX Gold, the machine's owner, recently deployed the vending machine in the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton, Fla., a wealthy community in Palm Beach County.

"They installed the machine on Friday and there is a very nice crowd around it because everybody likes gold. The company also has employees showing customers how to operate the machine," said a Town Center Mall management office spokesperson, who declined to give his name.

PMX Gold deployed the machine as part of a three-month pilot to gauge whether there is a market in the United States for the vending machine. Similar machines have been deployed in 12 locations in Germany, Spain, Italy and Dubai.

The machine in Boca Raton is permanently online and adjusts prices every 90 seconds to reflect the current market price of gold, company officials said in statement.

The Gold to go ATM sells gold for $150 to $1,400, said the Town Center Mall spokesperson. Repeated calls to the PMX Gold spokesperson were not returned. According to the company's website, PMX Communities, Inc., parent company of PMX Gold, is based in the business incubator park of Florida Atlantic University, which is also located in Boca Raton.

"Gold bullion products are becoming more and more sought after as a hedge against uncertainty, and gold continues to hit all-time record highs," say PMX Gold officials in a statement. 

Marcus Grubb, managing director of investment for the World Gold Council, agrees. 

"There was very strong demand for gold in third quarter, and it appears that the gold industry is headed for a record year," Grubb said. Demand for gold jewelry in China and India, coupled with a revival in the use of gold by industry, are key factors driving up gold tonnage and gold prices. The most important dynamic driving up gold prices is the difficult economies in some countries.

"There is more investment in gold because of concerns about the depreciation of the dollar in the United States and the euro in Ireland, Greece and Spain," Grubb said. According to World Gold Council charts, gold was selling for $1,200 an ounce at the end of the third quarter, up 20 percent compared with $1,000 per ounce in 2009's third quarter.

The World Gold Council, which has its headquarters in London and operates offices worldwide, is a market-development organization for the gold industry.

Although Grubb is aware that the gold-dispensing machine has been installed in a hotel in Dubai, he declined to comment on the vending machine as a vehicle to sell gold to a wider consumer audience. Officials of PMX Gold believe the machine will bring gold to the masses.

"The marketing of physical gold bullion in the United States has traditionally lacked fair pricing, quality control and acceptance by the general public due to non-standardized distribution methods," company officials say.

The growing demand for gold, however, means that PMX Gold might have deployed its machine at the right time in the United States so willing consumers can benefit from the increase in gold prices.

But industry observers don't consider the machine an ATM, even though company officials named it the Gold to go ATM.

"I would consider gold dispensers more of a novel application for a kiosk than an ATM," said Gil Luria, senior vice president of Equity Research at Wedbush Securities, which is based in Los Angeles. Even PMX Gold refers to the so-called ATM as a "Gold Bullion Vending Machine." The mall spokesperson also called the equipment a vending machine.

The vending machine first appeared several years ago in Germany. PMX Communities has signed an agreement with Ex Oriente Lux AG, a German-based company that owns the technology.

"We have entered into an agreement with Ex Oriente Lux AG, the owner of the technology, to conduct test marketing on an exclusive basis in the State of Florida during an initial three-month period, and, on a non-exclusive basis, to assist such company (Ex Oriente Lux AG) in seeking additional test markets and licensing and franchising opportunities within the United States," said Michael Hiler, president and CEO of PMX Communities, in a press release.