Why are so many Irish people buying gold?
The precious metal has been a favourite of investors for millenia and in recent years the price has surged.
On Lunchtime Live, Merrion Gold head of trading David Higgins explained why the metal has become so popular.
“With so much uncertainty, gold has been a safe haven asset,” he said.
“So, it tends to do well when things are in crisis or things go badly; in the last five, six-years, we’ve had COVID, obviously.
“Lockdowns came in and there was lots of uncertainty – people put their money into gold.
“It’s shot up since then, really.”
Mr Higgins said a starter investor spends about €120 but most do not take the gold home with them.
“We have a safe deposit box, which is like a vault like you see in films,” he said.
“We have one of those in Dublin, we have 10 of those in the UK, one in Barcelona as well.
“So, over 80 or 90% of people when they buy from us, they just put the gold straight in the safe with us.”
Main image: Gold ingots. Picture by: Alamy.com