bullion
gold or silver in bulk before it is coined
Root
- bull / boil: bubble, boil, or swell up
Other words with the bull / boil root
Bullion keeps the old melting-metal side of the bull / boil family.
The vault held bullion bars rather than coins.
Gold bullion gives the word a familiar setting. The older root image is molten or boiling metal; the modern word means precious metal in bulk.