Ed Echtenkamp, age 15, of Dodge City, Kan., for his question:

WHAT IS BULLION?

Bullion is either gold or silver bars called ingots that are considered metals or commodities rather than money.

The term bullion also applies to gold dust, gold nuggets, gold and silver plate and foreign coins valued as metal only.

George Washington, the first President of the United States, gave part of his own silver plate for the first coins struck in a United States mint. It can be said that he presented his bullion.

The first mint in the United States was established in Boston in 1652. Canada's first mint was established in Ottawa in 1870 as a branch of the British Royal Mint. It became a part of the Canadian Department of Finance in 1931.