Selling gold teeth to make ends meet in Greece

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/30/us-greece-gold-idUSTRE75T5BL20110630

"I'll see you again soon," she says, slipping the bills into her purse. Behind her, a grey-haired man shuffles toward the counter. "Do you buy gold teeth?" he asks.

In the Greek capital, gold is marking a divide between the "haves" and a growing number of "have nots."

Shops like this one have mushroomed in downtown Athens and are doing a brisk business. They offer cash for gold by weight and sell it to foundries.

Many ordinary Greeks who prospered after the Mediterranean country entered the euro a decade ago are now being forced to sell their family treasures just to make ends meet.

With the worst recession since the 1970s grinding into its third year, fresh belt-tightening measures to appease international lenders are driving many middle-class Greeks to desperation.

Unemployment has climbed to more than 16 percent and real wages are down by around a fifth since the global financial crisis struck three years ago.

With average salaries less than 1,300 euros ($1,900) a month and inflation running at more than 3 percent, many Greeks say they do not have enough money to pay for the basics.

"A lady came to me the other day crying because she needed to sell her gold jewels and didn't know what they were worth," said Alexandria Verykokaki, 55, whose family has owned a jewelry shop in downtown Athens since 1923.

"These are not poor folks. They are ordinary, middle-class Greeks: a woman with three kids who needs to sell her wedding jewelry just to send her kids to school."

GOLD RUSH FOR WEALTHY

That is one side of the coin. On the other, many wealthy Greeks, worried by the political paralysis gripping their country, are pulling money out of the bank and buying gold, regarded as the ultimate safe haven in times of uncertainty.