Gold sovereigns: 3,719 purchased from central bank in Greece in Q1 2023

Sellers again outpaced buyers in terms of sales of gold (UK) sovereigns in Greece, with official Bank of Greece (BoG) figures for the first quarter of 2023 showing that 11,984 such pricey coins were sold to the central bank.

Conversely, the figure was 17,580 in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

On the demand side, the number of gold sovereigns purchased in Greece during Q1 2023 totaled 3,719, down from 3,568 in same period of 2022. The increasing trend of sellers outpacing buyers, more than three-fold in this case, is attributed to the rising price of gold and inflation. Nevertheless, more gold sovereigns are sold back to the central bank annually than purchased from the latter, a long-standing trend.

Although Greece’s central bank is essentially the only legal point for buying and selling gold sovereigns (along with at least one commercial bank), an “underground” market also exists for buying and selling of such traded coins, which means that only official transactions are recorded.