ROYAL MINT OFFERS GOLD DEBIT CARD

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The E-Sylum: Volume 22, Number 41, October 13, 2019, Article 24

ROYAL MINT OFFERS GOLD DEBIT CARD

The Bank of England has toyed with the idea of cryptocurrency; now the Royal Mint is stepping into the banking space through partnerships and the retro look of 18K gold. -Editor

The Royal Mint has produced its first payment card - made of gold and costing nearly £20,000.

The 18-carat card can be personalised for customers "who value high-quality luxury items that make a statement".

The Mint has worked with Mastercard and payments technology firm Accomplish to make the debit cards, which cost £18,750 each.

Mastercard say they are part of an account called Raris and will be engraved with the customer's name and signature.

Any other details on the card will cost extra.

Royal Mint chief executive Anne Jessopp said they are "hugely excited" about the launch, which she called an "acknowledgement of growing consumer demands for unique and luxury payments cards".

Ms Jessopp said it represented "a combination of over 1,100 years of Royal Mint craftsmanship with tomorrow's payment technology".

Why fill your wallet with plastic when you can fill it with gold? Buy your burritos in style.

Calculating the true worth and value of such a product is beside the point - the idea is to flaunt wealth for the sake of flaunting wealth. I'm sure some of these will be sold and used. What happens when the account is closed? You wouldn't cut it up and throw it away like an ordinary card. Will these become high-end collectibles? What effect will ordinary wear and tear from usage have? Gold is a soft metal - do these cards have a protective coating to prevent rubbing? And how much gold is in them anyway? The article lists the fineness but not the weight. -Editor

To read the complete article, see:
Royal Mint launches debit card made of gold - but it isn't cheap (https://news.sky.com/story/royal-mint-launches-debit-card-made-of-gold-but-it-isnt-cheap-11832042)

To read the another article from the altfi site, see:
Royal Mint raises the bar with solid gold payments card (https://www.altfi.com/article/5832_royal-mint-raises-the-bar-with-solid-gold-payments-card)

Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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