Gold and silver faced another selling onslaught at the Comex futures market yesterday, with the most actively traded gold contract (February) losing 1.5% on the day to settle at $1,695.80 per troy ounce. Silver was down 2.28% to $32.99. Both metals have regained some ground in trading this morning, and are holding above key round numbers at $1,700 and $33 respectively. Somewhat surprisingly given this action in precious metals, the dollar also sold off yesterday – the Dollar Index down 0.25% to 79.68.

On Monday we talked about the rapid rise in American Eagle gold coin sales in America, and Robert Wenzel’s blog now carries news of shortages of small silver bars in Tokyo. Reports from Japan seem anecdotal at this stage, but given all the talk over there about new beefed-up efforts from the Bank of Japan to devalue the yen, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the Japanese were increasingly looking to precious metals as a way of preserving wealth.

The key point of course is that, as the chart below from Casey Research suggests, the number of people in many developed countries who have even seen bullion coins or bars – let alone owned them – is vanishingly small. Saving via precious metals instead of bank deposits or bonds remains a fringe activity, to say the least. Great for those of us wise enough to see the opportunity.

In currency wars news, the Brazilian government – in response to the “threat” of the real appreciating too much against the US dollar – has announced a string of protectionist measures designed to protect Brazilian industry. The beggar-thy-neighbour games continue.