The Melbourne Mint is returning to its former glory and will transact gold and silver; the building now headquarters for Australia’s newest precious metals company Melbourne Mint, with Greek Australian Peter August at the helm as CEO.
“We are hard wired to love gold,” exclaims August to the media at Wednesday’s launch at the iconic Melbourne building. With 25 years in the industry, August is also the CEO of Australian Bullion Company (ABC), the oldest privately run bullion company in Australia, the founder and CEO of numismatics company, Universal Coin Co, and the founder and CEO of Gold Merchants International (GMI) a global gold buying company, and is also the founding member of the Numismatics Dealer Association.
The CEO gave a number of reasons for the public to invest in gold including: gold is a solid long-term investment with high growth prospects; holding a small amount of your wealth in gold is just like taking out an insurance policy against economic turmoil, inflation and an increasingly unstable global banking system; gold has gained in value against all leading currencies since 2001, or, should I say, that it takes a lot more of most currencies to buy an ounce of gold due to monetary inflation; Melbourne Mint is backed by the most experienced gold traders in Australia; and in the event of a downturn, gold is one of the safest investments to be in. It can’t be made, printed or inflated.
The Mint, which has not traded precious metals for 40 years, has undergone significant renovations and it is hoped that the efforts afforded to the building will reinstate Victoria as Australia’s gold state. Among the new additions to the building is an interactive digital showroom which is a showcase of cutting edge technology featuring virtual learning tools and interactive animations. The showroom aims to educate clients on gold’s profound history and its relevance in today’s world.
“Imagine a Chesterfield lounge with an iPad sitting on it – the past meets the future,” says Mr August about the 1870’s grandeur of the building and integrity of the Melbourne Mint meeting the interactive space that is encompassed within. “Victoria has such a rich history with gold that I believe is underplayed in current times,” Mr August tells Neos Kosmos.
“One of my aims in creating Melbourne Mint has been to educate Australians and Victorians in particular, of the importance of gold in our social history. I have always worked in and around Melbourne’s CBD and I have passed the Melbourne Mint building regularly for a number of years. “It was my personal dream to return such an iconic Melbourne building to its former glory of transacting gold.
The former Royal Mint possesses synergy with Australia’s gold story. In order to achieve my goal of reinstating Victoria as the gold state I felt that transacting and educating on gold at the former Royal Mint, commonly known as Melbourne Mint, was the most appropriate choice.” But why gold? “Gold has a long history of association with power and beauty.
Its affiliation with power dates back more than 5,000 years. The desire to hold gold is a primal human instinct. People are further attracted to gold due to its scarcity, unlike paper money gold is not in unlimited supply. It is estimated that all of the world’s gold melted down could only fill 3.42 Olympic sized swimming pools.” For more information, visit www.melbournemint.com.au
