Financial Crisis: Rush for gold as savers queue for bullion
Savers have been queuing in the street to buy gold bars and coins, as
they search for a safe place to invest their money.
London's two leading bullion dealers, ATS Bullion and Baird & Co, have
reported a rush of interest from savers, many of whom have hundreds of
thousands of pounds worth of savings they want to convert into the
precious metal.

At least two customers have invested the entire proceeds from selling
their houses into gold, each buying up more than £500,000-worth of
gold bars, according to one dealer.

Savers have been queuing in the street at ATS Bullion, whose offices
are just off the Strand in London's west end.

Sandra Conway, the company's managing director, said: "We've had to
turn people away. The queues have been right out of the door and it's
been really hectic at times.

"Ever since Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, the phones have been going
off the hook."

Traditionally, gold has been one of the safest investments during
times of financial turmoil. In 1973 gold cost just $60 an ounce and
hit $650 in 1981.

However, since the summer the price of gold has fallen as the dollar
has strengthened – the two are linked quite closely.

But the fact that gold has not performed well in recent months has not
deterred thousands of investors.

"They don't think of gold as a way of making money. They think of it
as a safeguard in these turbulent times. You can move gold quickly, in
a way that you can not with shares or cash in a bank account," Ms
Conway said.

The average investor is buying up between £10,000 and £50,000 in bars
on each visit, but it is possible to buy as little as a half sovereign
coin, which costs about £70.

Some analysts say that while it may be romantic to buy bars of gold,
there is a far more practical way to investing in gold. Investors can
buy Exchange Traded Funds, which are like shares – they trade on the
stock market – and they are directly linked to the price of gold.

Mick Gilligan, at stockbrokers Killik & Co, said that his clients had
been asking about investing in gold in far greater numbers in recent
weeks.

"It's lot easier to sell than the gold you keep in your sock drawer,"
he said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...r-bullion.html