China is the world’s largest consumer of gold, but now many are looking to sell (Hector RETAMAL) \u00b7 Hector RETAMAL\/AFP\/AFP <\/p>\n
Dozens of people crowded around an automated gold recycling machine at a Shanghai mall, hoping to melt down family heirlooms for cash as prices of the precious metal hit record highs.<\/p>\n
China is the world’s largest consumer of gold, which is traditionally purchased by families to mark special occasions like births and weddings.<\/p>\n
But as\u00a0prices soared to a fresh high near $5,600 on Thursday, customers surrounding the bright yellow machine installed by gold trading firm Kinghood Group were looking to sell.<\/p>\n
“I never thought prices would rise so dramatically,” said 54-year-old Wu, who told AFP she wanted to sell panda-themed gold coins she had purchased after the birth of her daughter in 2002.<\/p>\n
She said she had previously sold the machine a ring inherited from her late father, which fetched around 10,000 yuan ($1,400) — a huge increase from the original 1,000 yuan her mother had paid for the ring decades ago.<\/p>\n
“Gold prices hold steady at a historic high, it’s the right time to sell gold,” an ad on the machine advised customers.<\/p>\n
An embedded screen displayed the Shanghai Gold Exchange’s fluctuating prices, while a live video feed showed a robotic arm moving gold scraps onto a scale and under a device that used light waves to measure its purity.<\/p>\n
Some people told AFP they had waited over an hour for their turn.<\/p>\n
An attendant kept track of each seller’s position in the queue, and helped to deposit ornate pendants, hammered rings and commemorative coins into an opening in the device.<\/p>\n
Wu said her elderly mother was especially excited about soaring gold prices, and saw the recycling machine as a chance to supplement her modest pension.<\/p>\n
“Everyone is suddenly talking about (gold), and it has sparked this emotion in her,” Wu told AFP.<\/p>\n
– Old gold –<\/p>\n
Zhao, a woman sporting an intricately carved gold medallion on a necklace of jade beads and shimmering bangles on her wrist, brought her late grandfather’s ring to the recycling machine.<\/p>\n
The ring’s surface was adorned with the Chinese character for “luck” and tiny images of traditional gold ingots.<\/p>\n
She said she believed her grandfather had purchased the ring sometime between the 1950s and the 1980s, and that her mother had handed it down to her this year.<\/p>\n
“If the price is good, I will sell it,” she told AFP as she waited for her turn.<\/p>\n
Minutes after Zhao deposited the ring into the machine, a\u00a0message popped up on its screen that said Kinghood would buy the chunk of high-karat gold for over 12,000 yuan.<\/p>\n
Satisfied, Zhao clicked\u00a0“agree” on the terms displayed onscreen and keyed in her full name, ID number and bank account details, while her grandfather’s ring was melted down into a smooth puddle on the live video feed.<\/p>\n
The attendant promised she would receive the full amount via bank transfer by the end of the day.<\/p>\n
“Other places test the gold by burning it slightly, but here they test it directly and it’s open and transparent,” Zhao said, explaining that she trusted the automated recycler over a traditional human buyer.<\/p>\n
In addition to a steady stream of sellers, the machine also drew the attention of bystanders who gawked at the large sums of money changing hands at the unassuming corner of the mall.<\/p>\n
“Damn!” said a passerby when she saw that one person was selling their old jewellery for more than 75,000 yuan.<\/p>\n
And onlookers crowded around an elderly couple as the machine calculated that their finger-sized gold bar could fetch over 122,000 yuan.<\/p>\n
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