Florida ATM spits out glittering wafer of gold

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — What's being billed as the first gold-dispensing ATM in the nation opened for business Friday at a mall in Boca Raton, Fla., spitting out an after-dinner mint-sized gold bullion into the palm of its first customer.

The "Gold To Go" gold bullion vending machine, developed by the Germany company Ex Oriente Lux, was brought to the United States by PMX Gold, a South Florida business that buys and sells lease-purchase options on gold mines. Twenty Gold To Go ATMs already are operating in malls, hotels and airports in Europe and the United Arab Emirates.

Ex Oriente Lux Managing Director Thomas Geissler believes the concept will be equally successful in upscale U.S. communities like Boca Raton. "Americans like vending machines," he said.

Another ATM will be unveiled in Las Vegas by the end of the month.

The gold-colored metallic box, about the size of a phone booth, is in the middle of the Town Center Mall concourse leading to the food court. Buyers can choose from four weights of .999 Credit Suisse gold bullion bars and two weights of U.S.-minted American Eagle gold coins.

Prices on Friday ranged from $122 to about $1,400, and are updated every 10 minutes to keep current with gold rates. The machine only takes U.S. dollars but will later be updated to take credit cards, said PMX President and CEO Michael C. Hiler.

The Boca Raton machine, which will hold around $150,000 in cash and gold, will be flanked by an armed bodyguard for now, The Associated Press reported. Several live security cameras are fixed inside and outside the machine.