First ATM to dispense gold bars

With its “Gold to Go” idea, German company Ex Oriente Lux AG launched working gold-dispensing machines in May 2010. The first machines were used experimentally in Germany, but the first publicly available gold ATM was located in the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi – one of the oil-rich gulf state’s top hotels. It dispensed 24-carat gold bars, weighing 1, 5 and 10 grams, for constantly updated cash prices to risk-averse guests. The idea spread with the installation (by different companies) of two machines in Singapore, one in Boca Raton, Florida, USA, and other examples across Europe and in Beijing and Mumbai. As the world economy becomes less predictable, and dollars and oil look like increasingly questionable investments, the idea may spread further.