A COLWYN BAY auctioneer has reported a major drop in the demand for gold from the area after a rush at a similar time last year. 

Mr John Rogers Jones, of Rogers Jones auctioneers of Abergele Road, Colwyn Bay, said only four lots of gold, out of a possible 20, from the Clogau mine near Dolgellau were sold at auction for a price of less than £190 per gram.

At the same auction this time last year every item of the same gold were sold for a much highre price.

Mr Jones said: "Last year all 10 lots were sold at a price broadly 20 times greater than the going price for non Welsh gold.

“This time we had 20 lots of gold from the Clogau mine near Dolgellau, amounting to 120 grams, for sale, but actually only sold four of them, and at a price of less than £190 per gram.

“This was a huge contrast with our sale this time last year when we sold 10 lots amounting to 57 grams at an equivalent price of almost £800 per gram."

He added: "This was considerably more than the price of general price of gold at the time which fluctuated between £30 and £40 per gram.

"The gold in this years sale and also in last years came from the same mine.

“We don’t know why there was less interest this year than last, we had nearly 400 potential buyers from all over the world who had expressed interest this year. But this interest didn't translate into sales.

"We have no idea why there was the difference, I just can’t put my finger on the reason. It is a mystery.”

"In the same auction we sold a lot of vintage board games such as ludo and a marble.

This reached £1,300, and the reason for this was the marble, that created the interest."

Welsh gold has traditionally been used for wedding rings by the Royal family including the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle's wedding ring.

The use of Welsh gold for wedding rings was started by the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth, in 1923, and it has been used for royal brides ever since.

The identities of both the vendor and the purchaser in this year's sale have been kept secret.