The gold ATM has come to America. And the more we read about the guy behind it, the more we like.

Constant readers will recall the rollout of the “Gold to Go” vending machine 18 months ago in Frankfurt… and its formal debut last May at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

Today the wraps come off the newest machine at the tony Town Center Mall in Boca Raton, Fla. It’s stocked with 320 coins and bars of various sizes worth about $150,000… well, at current prices. The machine uses an Internet connection to update the gold price every 10 minutes. You pay about 5% premium over spot.

Turns out Gold to Go’s founder Thomas Geissler got his inspiration from the collapse of Lehman Bros. “His customers refused to buy bonds, stocks and other funds from the financial industry,” says The Associated Press, “so they focused on precious metals.”

“Gold always comes back to its real value,” says Geissler. “It's not diamonds, it's not silver, it's not real estate. It's just gold.” So there.