Precious metal "precious" metal can also be determined by high demand or market value. Precious metals in bulk form are known as bullion and are traded on commodity markets. Bullion metals may be cast into ingots or minted into coins. The defining attribute of bullion is that it is valued by its mass and purity rather than by a face value as money. The level of purity varies from issue to issue. "Three nines" (99.9%) purity is common. The purest mass-produced bullion coins are in the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf series, which go up to 99.999% purity. A 100% pure bullion is
What Has Government Done to Our Money? paper money that exists today started as a receipt for a fixed weight or portion of some commodity, usually a precious metal. When a commodity becomes a money, it gains new properties unique to being a money. For example, unlike every other commodity, money becomes less useful during the time its supply is expanded, roughly to the degree to which it is expanded, all other things being equal. To illustrate: If the Monee Tree dropped five new Moneez into the economy tomorrow, the effect would be zero. But, if the Monee Tree dropped one thousand trillion Moneez into the economy