Japan Losing Vending Machine Edge?

Believe it or not, Japan was not the first country in the world to come up with the gold vending machine, the first of which was released early this week. Not a machine made of gold, but a machine that allows you to trade money for gold in a vending machine environment. Ron Paul would be proud, as the USA beat Japan to the punch by a month, while Germany and Abu Dhabi beat Japan by almost a year! As reporter Yoree Koh says, "It's enough to make you cry into your ramen."

That's alright though, says Space International Ltd., the group that was behind the idea of putting these machines out in Japan, who says, very similar to Ron Paul here in the states, that trading all your money in for solid gold is a great investment, especitally when "10,000 yen note becomes wastepaper," or so says a statement released by the group. The first rate, if you'd like to know, set by these machines earlier in the week was 6,800 yen ($82.70) per gram. This machine can give you gold in the form of coins or bars, with the heaviest bar weighing in at over 7 grams.

[Via Japan Realtime]