Legal Definitions - bullion

Bullion refers to gold or silver in its raw, physical form, typically cast into bars, ingots, or rounds, rather than being minted into coins or crafted into jewelry. It is valued primarily for its weight and purity as a commodity.

• Example 1: A private investor decides to diversify their portfolio by purchasing several 1-kilogram gold bars from a reputable dealer to hold as a long-term asset.

  Explanation: These gold bars are considered bullion because they are solid masses of uncoined gold, valued for their intrinsic metal content rather than their artistic design or numismatic value.

• Example 2: The national treasury of a country holds vast quantities of gold in secure vaults as part of its strategic financial reserves. These reserves are primarily in the form of large, standardized gold ingots.

  Explanation: The gold ingots held by the treasury are bullion, as they are uncoined, solid masses of gold maintained for their monetary value and as a store of wealth, not for circulation as currency or for decorative purposes.

• Example 3: A precious metals refinery processes raw silver ore and then pours the purified metal into large, rectangular molds to create uniform blocks before it is shipped to manufacturers for industrial use or coin production.

  Explanation: These uniform blocks of refined silver are bullion. They represent a solid mass of precious metal that has not yet been shaped into coins, silverware, or other finished products, and their value is based on the purity and weight of the silver.