Muenze Oesterreich AG, which makes Philharmonic coins, saw sales of gold bars and coins jump about 45 percent to 1.32 million ounces in 2015 from a year earlier, while silver sales rose to 7.3 million ounces from 4.6 million ounces, Lang said.

“People are concerned about the stability of the economy,” Lang said. “All European countries are struggling. We have a very high rate of unemployment in the southern parts of Europe. Austria is fine on that level, but still we can see what’s happening around us. And interest rates are negative, so it all speaks for gold.”