"Our Zurich and Geneva sales desks remain exceptionally busy coping with this heightened retail demand for coins and small bars, mostly out of Europe and in particular out of Germany."

Thebulliondesk.com has a similar report from the UK:

"In the last few weeks, the market has gone from an even split of buyers and sellers to 80 percent buyers to 20 percent sellers… and premiums have begun to rise. On the popular Krugerrand of South Africa, premiums have grown to seven percent from five percent early last week because availability is increasingly difficult."

Reuters this morning has a story from the Austrian Mint saying it

"sold more gold in the two weeks from April 26 than in the entire first quarter of the year because of soaring demand in Europe"

And a story from Heraeus saying it

"…sees a ten-fold jump in demand for minted gold since early 2010"

This demand is not apparent in the US where coin bids by dealers have not changed. It appears to be Euro-driven.

VIENNA, May 12 (Reuters) - The Austrian Mint, which produces the popular Philharmonic gold coin, sold more gold in the two weeks from April 26 than in the entire first quarter of the year because of soaring demand in Europe, it said on Wednesday.

Demand for minted gold products up tenfold: Argor

* Argor reports surge in sales since start of euro crisis
* PAMP owner MKS Finance also sees higher demand from Europe

GENEVA, May 12 (Reuters) - Investor demand for small gold bars and minted products has jumped tenfold since the start of this year, the Swiss refinery Argor-Heraeus said on Wednesday.

"We are seeing very, very high demand for smaller products. I would say 10 times more than the first two months of this year," Bernhard Schnellmann, Argor's director of precious metals services, told Reuters by telephone.

"It all started after the euro crisis," he said. "The demand especially for small bars and minted products is extremely high, mainly from Europe."

Argor's refinery in Switzerland's Italian-speaking Ticino region is "fully utilised," Schnellmann said.

In Geneva, MKS Finance said its PAMP refinery unit has been busy filling additional orders from Europe for gold investment products but was not yet over-stretched.

"There has been a bit of surprising demand, mainly from the European banks for value-added products since Monday," said Afshin Nabavi, MKS Finance's head of trading and physical sales.

"It is a bit too early to give any numbers. It is just taking place," he said.

The Swiss Mint, contacted by Reuters, declined to comment on sales of or demand for its gold products.

Gold hit a record high on Wednesday as investors sought safety from the turmoil in government bond markets propelled by worries about Greece's debt. [ID:nLDE64B1D9] Spot gold hit $1.243.55 an ounce, up nearly 20 percent since February.

MKS Finance Chairman Marwan Shakarchi said in March that gold could hit $1,300 an ounce within a year, adding PAMP's refining was already operating at full capacity.

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