According to the Croatian media, which I follow only grudgingly if superficially, gold and silver are being bought left and right from the Croatian citizens and sold abroad. Tons upon tons of the stuff are in question. If the media are to be trusted, most of the stuff goes to Italy, of all places. Simply put, family gold and silver are exchanged for cash so as to buttress the flagging economy. Many a jeweler in Zagreb has been involved in this form of international trade. Every jewelry shop has a huge sign to the effect that gold and silver are sought. As of late, there is a new twist to the trade. New shops are springing up all over the Croatian capital. They sell no jewelry, but only offer cash for gold and silver. Such a shop has recently sprung up in my beloved’s apartment building. It replaced a pastry shop, which survived only a couple of years. The shop windows have been plastered with signs seeking gold and silver. Inside, there sits a young woman behind a desk. It is hard to tell how long the shop will be there, though. Gold and silver the citizens of Zagreb have on offer cannot go forever. Thus I would give the new shop a year or at most two. It will be interesting to see what destitute Croatians will be selling once their inheritance is exhausted. Organs and body parts, perhaps?

Addendum (April 25, 2013)

The gold and silver shop in my beloved’s apartment building disappeared less than a month ago. The sparse furniture and all the signs in the windows vanished over night. It lasted about a year only. As soon as the gold price collapsed recently, shops of this kind started disappearing all around the Croatian capital. Chances are that there is little gold and silver left in the city, too. At any rate, the market works pretty swiftly. Now that many shops in Zagreb are empty, the real estate market also works swiftly. Three cheers for capitalism!