- Title: SLOVENIA: Europe's largest gold coin 'Big Phil' on show
- Date: 29th March 2009
- Summary: LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA (MARCH 28, 2009) (REUTERS) CITY STREET IN LJUBLJANA BUILDING WHERE INTERNATIONAL COLLECTORS' FAIR 'COLLECTA' IS HELD VISITORS ENTERING FAIR VISITORS LOOKING AT COINS AT STAND COINS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WITH PRICE TAGS EUROPE'S BIGGEST GOLD COIN 'BIG PHIL' BEING UNVEILED 'BIG PHIL' IN FULL SIZE (SOUNDBITE) (Slovenian) IRENA MORO, DIRECTOR OF MORO&KU
- Embargoed: 13th April 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Slovenia
- Country: Slovenia
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVABAXKZUDPXX750LP5SW28BD30K
- Story Text: Europe's largest gold coin, created by the Austrian Mint and dubbed 'Big Phil' in honour of the Vienna Philharmonic, has gone on show outside of Austria for the first time.
The coin, weighing 31 kilograms (68 pounds), was unveiled at the 3rd Ljubljana International Collectors' Fair 'Collecta' on Saturday (March 28), in Slovenia.
Despite holding a face value of only 100,000 euros (133,000 US dollars), the coin is actually worth more than 752,000 euros (one million US dollars) in current gold prices.
The solid 24-carat gold disc bears the orchestra's famous hall on one side and instruments on the other, and with a diameter of 37cm (14.5 inches), it is roughly the size of a large pizza. Presented by firms Moro&Kunst, and Schoeller Muenzhandel, the coin will be available for public viewing in Ljubljana until the fair closes on Sunday (March 29).
When asked of the coin's current value, Irena Moro, director of Moro&Kunst art house in Ljubljana, said: "This amount of gold today is worth 694,000 euros (922,000 US dollars), but taking into account the value of the work as well as of the sale value, it rises to 800,000 euros (1.06 million US dollars)."
In recent years, several mints around the world have cashed in on demand for gold and silver products, and more recently the global financial crisis and collapse of several big investment houses have sharpened investors' appetite for safe-haven assets such as gold bullion.
The demand for silver and gold rose last October, according to Alexander Schwab-Trau, a coin expert from the Vienna firm Schoeller Muenzhandel.
"We have some bars for example which have sold out and which we will get in, in a later period. Very beloved are the 50 and 100 gram bars and they are at the moment not very easy to get," Schwab-Trau said adding that if one was to order 50 gram (1.76 ounce) bar today, they would need to wait for a month to get it.
After the financial crises started people went back to investing in gold, Slovenian coin collector Rudi Ravnik said.
"People now know that investment in gold is the surest thing is these times of crisis, because we know what has happened with shares and so on. Those who have money, at least a bit, they invest it in smaller coins, those who have more money invest in larger items," Ravnik added.
The influence of the economic crises is also being felt among collectors.
"Compared to last year, demand is down for obvious reasons we are all familiar with. In principle you can sell cheaper, or in "defective" (less desirable) goods. If someone comes to buy, they go for the high-end things, big gold or silver items which will always keep their value at any moment and which are always easy to sell," Croatian collector Zlatko Milosavljevic said.
Gold was at 921.55 US Dollars an ounce this week, but had hit an 11-month peak above one thousand US dollars in February, and an all-time high of 1,030 US dollars an ounce in March 2008.
Big Phil is the biggest and most valuable coin in Europe, but it's a dwarf compared to a monster 100-kilogram (220 pound) gold coin produced by The Royal Canadian Mint two years ago.
Several countries that sell normal-size gold bullion coins, such as France, the United States and Australia, say sales are booming and demand for gold remains strong.
The Collecta fair gathers some 140 stands of collectors and traders of coins, fossils, minerals, telephone cards, antiquities, military objects and other small collectables from 20 European countries. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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