Agencies
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, long lines formed outside shops selling gold in Poland. A similar situation was created soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering another rush for gold in the neighboring country.
Piotr Kozik, the manager of a Warsaw shop selling gold bars and coins produced by the Mint of Poland, remembers that the day of Russia’s invasion, Feb. 24, 2022, was Fat Thursday when Poles gorge themselves on paczki, jam-filled donuts.”On that day, there were longer lines for gold at our store than for donuts at the bakery,” Kozik said.
Poles were shaken by the war across the border, which sent refugees fleeing to their country, and for many, gold seemed to offer financial and psychological security.
Today, those lines are gone, but demand for gold remains steady as the war rages into its third year. Adding to the unease is a migration crisis at Poland’s border with Belarus, which Polish authorities view as a hybrid war engineered by Moscow and Minsk.
Radoslaw Paklikowski, a 38-year-old entrepreneur in the western Polish city of Wroclaw, began buying gold and silver coins in 2021 and now invests 5% of his assets in precious metals.
“Having real physical gold is important and by that, I don’t mean a ton of gold, but an amount that will help you cross the border or make your family safe if anything will happen,” he said.
Membership in NATO gives some a feeling of security. Still, many in this region, once under Moscow’s control, worry that if Russia prevails in Ukraine, it won’t stop there.While governments beef up defenses and send weapons to Ukraine, regular people are seeking protection. Some with means have bought homes in Spain and Italy.
Unlike investments in real estate or artwork in Poland, gold, diamonds and silver can be easily moved.
In Poland, gold’s allure is intertwined with the enduring trauma of World War II, when it could ensure survival.
Stories are still told in families of relatives who survived thanks to gold jewelry or coins, which allowed them to buy food or cross borders to safety when the country was under occupation by German and Soviet forces. Nearly 6 million Polish citizens were killed in that war, among them most of Poland’s Jews.
Marta Bassani-Prusik, head of precious metals trade at the Mint of Poland, said her clients include Poles who recall such family histories, as well as people with Polish roots who return to see the land of their ancestors, some of whom fled the Warsaw Ghetto.”
They say that they are alive only because of the gold – because their grandparents had a gold bar or a gold coin,” she said.
She said the market for investment in gold bars and coins was slow in the years before COVID-19 but took off with the pandemic and war “because everybody was afraid of what was happening.” When the gold market leveled off, it got another boost from post-pandemic inflation, which reached over 18% in Poland.
The price of gold is volatile like stocks and investors can lose if they buy high and have to sell low, and it can get lost or stolen. Since it is priced in dollars on a global market, like oil, currency fluctuations can add to the risks for some.
That it remains attractive attests to its universal allure, and gold has surged from around $1,300 per Troy ounce – which is 31 grams and the standard for measuring precious metals – to over $2,300 over the past decade.
The rise is increasingly driven by demand from individuals and central banks in Asia, according to Michal Teklinski, an expert at Goldsaver, a popular new branch of investment gold dealer Goldenmark Group that allows clients to buy physical gold in installments.
