The U.K. Royal Mint’s gold sales jumped by a fifth in the first three months of the year, according to figures obtained under freedom of information legislation.

Following month-on-month declines in the first two months, March gold sales jumped 263 percent in volume-terms, according to the information sent by email. Gold sold and stored by the mint under its Signature Gold program, which allows the partial ownership of bars held in its vault, jumped 178 percent in March, compared with a year earlier.