Difination of Bullion Market?

Answer 1

Bullion is bars or coins of precious metals. Usually, these are gold, silver, palladium, and platinum. They are traded through dealers. Usually the dealer makes money via spread: They have a bid for which they will buy from sellers which is lower than the spot price, and an ask which higher and where they'll sell. The spot price is derived from the futures market. This is a paper market where traders bid for contracts of delivery on the precious metals. The major futures markets are in New York, London, and now Chicago. Futures on precious metals are usually traded on US dollars, even outside the US. However, many of the worlds important financial cities have them and some of them don't trade via US dollars (IE Dubai, and India).

So, I gave you two types of markets: Bullion, and futures. It's important to recognize the difference but also how they are interrelated.

Some sites for reference:
Kitco.com (bullion dealer and futures quotes)
barchart.com (futures quotes)
thebulliondesk.com (futures quotes)
coloradogold.com (my favorite bullion dealer, best prices)
ebay.com (cheap bullion if you can risk occasional fraudulent and abusive users)
gmoolah.blogspot.com (my blog where I occasionally discuss gold)

Hope that helps.