Bullion is precious metal (like gold or silver) in bulk form that’s valued by its weight and purity rather than its shape or artistic design.

It usually comes in the form of bars or ingots, but coins can also be considered bullion if they’re mainly bought for their metal content rather than as collectibles.

At its core, bullion is simply precious metal in its purest form — usually gold or silver — shaped into bars, ingots, or coins.

Unlike jewelry or rare collectible coins, bullion isn’t about how it looks. It’s valued almost entirely for two things: weight and purity. A one-ounce bar of gold will be worth pretty much the same anywhere in the world, because its value is tied directly to the global market price of gold (often called the spot price).

So why do people buy bullion? For many, it’s a way to store and protect wealth. Paper money can lose value when inflation rises, but gold and silver have been trusted stores of value for thousands of years. Owning bullion is like having a physical backup plan — something that doesn’t depend on banks to retain worth.