Question

I remember a time when a shortage occurred; we had to have three dollars, and we had to have it before the close of the day. I don't know now how we happened to want all that money at one time; I only know we had to have it... As it is used in this excerpt, what do you think the word bullion means? What context clues help you determine the meaning of this word in the excerpt?

Answer 1

Bullion is money, specifically gold or silver that has been freshly mined but not cleaned and made into money.

Clues to the meaning include the fact that the kids need "3 dollars", the speaker doesn't know how they wanted all that "money" at one time, and they had to "raise" it, as in "raising money". When he says, "I hadn't any idea where to turn to raise all that bullion..." he means the 3 dollars.