Bullion traditionally stands for gold bars, silver bars, other precious metals bars or ingots. The word bullion comes from the French Minister of Finance under Louis the 13th, Claude de Bullion.

In recent years, the term bullion has also been marketed by retailers to describe ingots or bars of base metals such as copper, nickel, or aluminium although the mining and refining industry does not use this term for base metals.

It is also used to refer to a metal piece shaped in the form of a coin or a bar and plated with a precious metal. Examples are gold-plated bars and coins.

Description[edit]

Gold bars, the typical form of bullion

Bullion refers to precious metals in bulk form which are regularly traded on commodity markets. The value of bullion is typically determined by the value of its precious metals content, which is defined by its purity and mass.

The specifications of bullion are often regulated by market bodies or legislation. In the European Union, the minimum purity for gold bullion, which is treated as investment gold with regards to taxation, is 99.5% for gold bullion bars and 90% for bullion coins.^[1]

To confirm the purity of the gold, a modern laboratory uses modern XRF technology to accurately assess its quality in order to ensure the owner receives fair market value for it. It is also weighed extremely accurately.

There may be several reasons that investors choose to purchase physical gold bullion; to attempt to hedge against currency risk, to attempt to hedge against inflation risks, to attempt to hedge geopolitical risks, or to add diversification to an investment portfolio.

London Bullion Market[edit]

The London bullion market is an over-the-counter market for wholesale trading of gold and silver. The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) coordinates activities of its members and other participants in the London Bullion Market.

The London Bullion Market Association sets and promotes quality standards for gold and silver bullion bars. The minimum acceptable fineness of the Good Delivery Bars is 99.5% for gold bars and 99.9% for silver bars.

Coins[edit]

Bullion coins describe contemporary precious metal coins minted by official agencies for investment purposes. Historically, most currency were in the form of bullion coins, silver and gold being the most common metals. Some bullion coins have been used as currency throughout the 20th century, like the Maria Theresa thaler and the Krugerrand. However, modern bullion coins generally do not enter common circulation.

Uses[edit]

A range of professional market participants is active in the bullion markets: banks, fabricators, refiners and vault operators or transport companies as well as brokers. They provide facilities for the refining, melting, assaying, transporting, trading and vaulting of gold and silver bullion.^[2]

Besides the direct bullion market participants, other professional parties like investment companies and jewelers use bullion in the context of products or services which they produce or offer to customers. For example, shares of the world’s largest Gold exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Shares represent ownership in vaulted gold bullion.

Private individuals use bullion primarily as an investment or potential store of value. Gold bullion and silver bullion are the most important forms of physical precious metals investments. Bullion investments can be considered as insurance against inflation or economic turmoil and may not entail direct counterparty risk.

Compared to numismatic coins, bullion bars or bullion coins can typically be purchased and traded at lower margins and their trading prices are closer to the values of the contained precious metals.

Occasionally, consumers who are unaware of the intrinsic value of a coin will use it as normal currency. If a coin is taken to a bank, the bank can only pay the face value of the coin. However, if it has intrinsic value, it is worth much more.

See also[edit]

• Bullionism

References[edit]