Buying gold in Europe is not as uncomplicated as it might seem, because there are so many counties on the continent. Before you do decide to purchase some gold, you really need to check out all of the countries regulations about owning it. These include the buying of it, the selling of it, transporting it within the country, and moving it to another country.
Some countries like the UK and Switzerland make it very easy to own gold, whereas other countries have restrictive laws that make it more complex. When Russia first starting issuing gold coins, they put a Value Added Tax (VAT) on them, which increased their price significantly over what the price of the gold that was within each coin was worth.
Next, most of the countries in Europe will have some kind of local gold market. At these types of retail operations you might be only able to find what is available within the region or the country itself. There are a few very large European gold dealers that you can buy gold from that they have extremely secure storage facilities where they can maintain it for you.
Some of these are Pamp Suisse, My Swiss Gold, or the Royal Dutch Mint. Of course, if you live in one of these countries it is very easy to use these mints to purchase gold. That being said, just because they make it simple to acquire, does not mean that you are always able to get it for the best price when you are buying it.
Of course, if you pay too much for the gold when you purchase it, your profits will be lower when you decide to sell it. The best way to go about buying gold in Europe is to fully research and understand all of the laws and regulations pertaining to the country that you reside in.