Gold and silver were rallying Tuesday morning as Spanish bond yields reached record euro-era highs. Spot gold was up 1.02% lower as of 11:30 a.m., breaching the $1,600 an ounce mark and bid at $1,612.40 an ounce. The morning high reached $1,613.40, and the low $1,587.60, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was fixed at $1,603.50, $19.50 an ounce higher than Monday’s price fixing.

Spot silver was showing a 1.36% gain, bid at $28.97 an ounce. The morning high as of time of writing was $29.12, with the low reaching $28.41. Tuesday’s reference price fix of $28.54 is nine cents an ounce below Monday’s reference price.

The net worth of the average American family plunged nearly 40% between 2007 and 2010, driven lower mainly by the bursting of the speculative housing and real estate bubble, according to a Federal Reserve study published every three years. “The stunning drop in median net worth — from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010 — indicates that the recession wiped away 18 years of savings and investment by families,” according to CNNMoney’s report.

The bond market wasn’t buying into the EU’s bailout plan for Spanish banks. Yields on Spanish Treasuries rose to their highest level since the introduction of the euro in 1999, with the yield on the 10-year benchmark issue breaching 6.8%.

Turkey’s largest bank, Turkiye Is Bankası AS, intends to collect $1 billion of gold in its Turkish deposit accounts by the end of the year, Dublin’s GoldCore reported. There’s “as much as 5,000 metric tons of gold stored ‘under the mattress’ in Turkey,” GoldCore cites an Istanbul newspaper quoting Turkiye Is Bankasi Deputy CEO Erdal Aral Aral.

“Gold has always been seen as money and as a store of wealth in Turkey, and now the country is leading the way with regard to the remonetisation of gold in the 21st Century,” GoldCore writes.

Gold bullion rallied back above $1,600 an ounce in London morning trading Tuesday, BullionVault reported, amid doubts regarding the effectiveness of the EU’s latest emergency-funding program and the financial viability of eurozone governments and banks.

“The debts of euro-area sovereigns that are dependent on funding support from official sources represent non-investment-grade risks,” BullionVault quoted a Moody’s statement released Friday. “Future support — particularly if likely to be needed for a sustained period — would likely be made conditional on loss-sharing with private investors or, in extremis, withdrawn altogether.”

Gold and silver trusts were headed higher in U.S. stock exchange trading.

The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was showing gains of around 0.9%.
The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up around 1%.
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was up around 1.2%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were also showing gains in Tuesday morning trading.

The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was up around 2.6%.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was around 3% higher.
The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was up around 2.8%.

In a sharp reversal from yesterday, gold mining shares were showing strong gains across the board.

Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was up some 3.7%.
Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was around 1.75% higher.
Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was up more than 4%.
Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was more than 2.3% higher.
Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC) was up around 1.8%.
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was showing gains of more than 2%.
NovaGold Resources (NYSEAMEX:NG) was up more than 4.1%.
Yamana Gold (USA) (NYSE:AUY) was around 3% higher.

Silver mining shares were well into positive territory as well.

Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was up around 3.2%.
Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was up around 3.75.%.
Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was around 1.8% higher.
Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was around 3.4% higher.
Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was up nearly 3.6%.

As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.