AFP – An Emirati man tries the "Gold to Go" vending machine at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. …
ABU DHABI (AFP) – There's no mistaking what's in this vending machine. The well-heeled in the Gulf can now grab "gold to go" from a hotel lobby in the United Arab Emirates, when the need for a quick ingot strikes.
On Thursday, a day after its inauguration, the shiny machine attracted spectators of many different nationalities who gathered to watch whenever an enthusiast was struck with the urge to splurge on a bar of the precious metal.
Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace Hotel became the first place outsideGermany to install "gold to go, the world's first gold vending machine," said a statement from Ex Oriente Lux AG, the German company behind the vending machine.
"In addition to one-gram, five-gram and 10-gram bars of gold, the machine also dispenses gold coins," it added.
Gold rates are constantly updated inside the shiny machine -- itself gold-plated -- in the hotel's lobby, courtesy of a built-in computer connected to a dealer which sells gold online.
"This eliminates the risk premiums usually associated with precious metal trading," the German company said.
Hotel general manager Hans Olbertz said they wanted the hotel to be the first in the world to offer guests what he called "this golden service."
The Emirates Palace is often used by visiting foreign dignitaries, and its top floor is reserved for the rulers of the UAE federation's seven emirates, each of whom has his own suite.
1 comment:
Almost anything can (and probably has been!) used for ‘money’ as a medium of payment. So, why is gold in particular associated with coinage and money? Why is gold such a universally recognised and accepted standard of value?
Gold is portable – Unlike many other commodities, gold is also relatively portable; gold can be melted down or cut into smaller pieces, though it does have limitations when it comes to everyday transactions…the amount of gold needed to pay for a loaf of bread is not only very difficult to cut and weigh, it would be so small that it would get lost easily lost! So, while gold buyers can not use gold in everyday transactions, gold buyers can always sell gold for its equivalent value in notes.
Gold does not degrade – Gold can be stored or hidden without fear that it will rot, rust, or be eaten by termites. Gold buyers can be certain that if they buy gold for investment, it will not depreciate physically.
Gold is durable – Gold is not destroyed by floods, fires, famine, or other natural disasters. Gold buyers can be confident that any gold will withstand just about anything!
Gold is divisible – Unlike investments of property and other commodities, gold can be melted into various forms and weights when required.
Gold purity or gold standard is uniform – Gold has a ‘standard’ unit of value, gold purity by gold weight. One ounce of pure gold is always one ounce of pure gold, unlike, for example, one carat of diamonds which are of variable quality and thus variable value. Perhaps the most vital factor to the acceptance of gold as money is that the standard of gold purity can be can be guaranteed and maintains its value; in other words, gold buyers can be confident that they can sell gold for near equal value in the future.
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