Yesterday, immediately upon entering the spectacular Peter and Paul Fortress grounds in St. Petersburg, I spotted this sign:

Had to go in to take a look.  The woman in the shop spoke decent English and was happy to answer the many questions I had.  The short of it is they had no gold coins at all, only silver.  She said that demand for gold was too high and only in the coin shop of the biggest bank do they have gold coins for sale now.  She said demand has increased YOY, but I couldn’t get an idea if it was a significant increase in demand or a general lack of supply that has caused the shortage.

This 2″ diameter Fabergé egg coin weighs 101.5 grams and costs $285:

Here are two more of the many that caught my eye:

 

If I had the extra cash, I would have gotten you one for a birthday present, Fully, but all you get for now is a picture.  Besides, I heard it’s the thought that counts 😉