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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 == ''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.〔Council Directive 98/80/EC of 12 October 1998 - Special scheme for investment gold: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31998L0080:en:HTML〕 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「bullion」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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