The Austrian Mint sold 1.3 million ounces of gold in 2015. This was up 215% from 2014 when the Austrian Mint sold 910 million ounces of gold. Austrian Mint gold sales in 2015 exceeded the combined 2015 U.S. Mint American Gold Eagle and Perth Mint gold sales.

Austrian Mint spokeswoman Andrea Lang told Bloomberg News that the Austrian Mint’s gold sales were a reaction to the negative interest rates instituted across the European Union. A common knock against gold is that it doesn’t pay interest. That complaint is neutralized when gold is compared against cash deposits, which lose money by remaining in bank accounts and are subject to potential “bail-ins” whereby depositors may lose some of their deposits if the banks where they keep their money become insolvent.