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BULLION

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 791 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BULLION , a See also:

term applied to the See also:gold and See also:silver of the mines brought to a See also:standard of purity. The word appears in an See also:English See also:act of 1336 in the See also:French See also:form " puissent sauvement See also:porter a See also:les exchanges ou bullion . . . argent en See also:plate, See also:vessel d'argent, &c."; and apparently it is connected with See also:bouillon, the sense of " boiling " being transferred in English to the melting of See also:metal, so that bullion in the passage quoted meant " melting-See also:house " or " See also:mint." The first recorded instance of the use of the word for See also:precious metal as such in the See also:mass is in an act of 1451. From the use of gold and silver as a See also:medium of See also:exchange, it followed that they should approximate in all nations to a See also:common degree of fineness; and though this is not See also:uniform even in coins, yet the proportion of alloy in silver, and of carats alloy to carats See also:fine in gold, has been reduced to infinitesimal See also:differences in the bullion of See also:commerce, and is a See also:prime See also:element of value even in gold and silver plate, See also:jewelry, and other articles of manufacture. Bullion, whether in the form of coins, or of bars and ingots stamped, is subject, as a See also:general See also:rule of the See also:London See also:market, not only to See also:weight but to assay, and receives a corresponding value.

End of Article: BULLION

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