Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Summer would normally be a quiet period for The Gold Exchange in Wellington.
But this year there has been no let-up.
Visitors are buying 50 silver coins at a time, and orders for gold are running hot, even as prices continue to rise.
Gold was selling for just over $8000 an ounce on Wednesday morning and silver, $153.
Silver prices rose 150 percent in 2025 while gold rose by 65 percent.
"We have a lot of people buying quite large quantities lately," sales manager Eli O'Donnell said.
Activity had picked up through last year and continued rolling, he said.
"It's been non-stop really. It's usually a quiet period for us around January but it's been flat out at the moment. My colleague and I have been having a lot of fun."
Many people were those who were new to buying gold and silver, he said.
He said silver could be a bit difficult to source because of the high level of demand.
"What's available and in comparison to what's this year's volume that's being purchased around the country right now. It's a little tricky but there is availability … we can definitely look at supplying the majority of orders that come through, it's still not a problem, you might just have to wait a little while."
Rupert Carlyon, founder of Kōura KiwiSaver, said demand for precious metals was being driven by concern about inflation and fears about the US dollar.
"Post Russia-Ukraine, everyone is scared of what's happening, that they'll have all their USD-denominated assets taken away. That's why we're seeing central banks starting to buy more gold. Russia and China are starting to move back into the gold world."
He said exchange-traded funds were also making it easy for retail investors to purchase.
"It doesn't require huge changes in buying patterns for there to be market swings in prices. It's a volatile asset."
That volatility was why people should not put too much of their money into precious metals, he said, although it could work as a diversifier in a portfolio. "We've chosen bitcoin as an alternative to gold because we see more upside."
Neale Muston, Excalibur Trading principal, agreed gold was traditionally a haven for people worried about geopolitical and inflation issues.
Silver was cheaper but had recently been the subject of more global demand, he said.
"Much of this global demand is hype and influencer-driven paranoia about government debt and paper currencies globally - particularly the United States - becoming worthless, the US dollar losing its reserve status, and the US Administration's shift from being a somewhat benevolent global player, to a far more disruptive actor.
"It seems clear that momentum is swelling from a far broader investor base for both gold and silver, despite neither paying interest to an investor holding them."
BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said it was hard to isolate the exact driver of the recent activity.
"Some of the more likely candidates include central banks diversifying more of their reserves into gold, speculative activity, and more general demand for assets perceived as offering safe-haven characteristics.
"I think this safe-haven demand, particularly as an alternative to the US dollar, has become more prominent this year as geopolitical risk has become even more elevated and markets have worried about the independence of the Federal Reserve."
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