Gold and Silver have been on a steady decline this year and having lost 17% and 25% respectively in USD terms got me curious to find out if there was any country where the value of these metals increased in the local currency terms.

After some research and marrying the Exchange Rates to the price of Gold and Silver at various points in time I got the below table ready…45 Currencies to look at :).

I did not really find any country where the value had increased but Japan came very close to parity. Gold has lost only 2% value when measured in JPY. Given the massive weakness in JPY over the past few months the gold value has been able to off set the losses when measured in yen terms.

The second closest country was South Afria which has experienced similar currency weakness but not as large as the yen.

On the other extreme are countries like Mexico, China, Thailand and Malaysia where strengthning local currency and growth prospects of economy have aggrevated the losses for those holding gold or silver. Gold is down 22% in Mexican peso terms and 19% when measured in Yuan.

The stark contrast between Japan and Mexico does highlight how Gold and Silver could act as store of wealth when countries go through or are expected to go through inflationary periods or there is a general run on the currency.

Now you would be wondering what is my view on the metals?

Well i treat them as any other investment avenue and continue to have my exposure to these through collectible coins 🙂