Romanians’ gifts for christenings and weddings: they’ve have bought more than 2.5 tonnes of gold

Romanians have bought over 2.5 tonnes of gold directly from the bank since the end of 2013 so far. Often, ingots and coins are purchased as gifts for christenings and weddings.

“Customers buy coins as gifts especially for various events (baptisms, weddings, anniversaries). Among the gold bars, the most popular are the KINEGRAM with serious safety element engraved (available in weights from 5 to 10 grams) and whose famous design is the Lipizzaner of the Spanish riding school in Vienna. This particular gold bar is bought to be given on special occasions and can easily replace a gem,” said Laura Hexan, in charge with treasury products retail with BCR, in a press release for ziare.com.

The bank sold in 2014 about 220 kg of gold, through direct sales on counters (about 30 kg of gold) and through the mass affluent areas and through Private banking (about 190 kg of gold).

In total, since the end of 2013 until now, over 2.5 tons of gold were sold. The average for the most important transactions (by volume) was over 40 kg of gold per transaction, carried out by private banking division.

“The data we have show that men buy almost twice more gold than women. In general, the coins or the small bars are bought by men as gifts to women or to their children on various occasions. Customers have bought a number slightly higher of coins than bullions, but the gold weight is higher for the bullions area,” said Laura Hexan.

BCR is the only bank that offers customers, since the end of 2013, the opportunity to buy gold directly from its offices without the need for pre-order.

The precious metal is provided by the Austrian Mint State as coins and bullions. The gold is 24 karat (purity 999.9%).

The most expensive bullion cost RON 167,340 and weighs one kilogram, and the most expensive coin cost RON 5,438.