MINTS may have a licence to print money but in the era of privatisations, even currency producers are reaching out to new markets.
Last week, the semi-privatised Austrian Mint released one of the world's top selling bullion coins, the Vienna Gold Coin, to Hong Kong investors.
'Small investors who want to buy gold in an attractive coin for themselves or for a gift will be the customers we will target in Hong Kong,' said mint managing director Paul Berger.
The coins, legal tender in Austria, come in one ounce, half ounce, quarter ounce and one-tenth ounce sizes with face values denominated in Austrian schillings and pegged to the deutschmark.
More than 3.3 million of them have been sold worldwide, making them Europe's top-selling bullion coins.
The smallest in the series has a face value of 200 schillings while the largest, which contains an ounce of gold, has a face value of 2,000 schillings.