Word: bullion
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...silver they hold. These bonds would pay a low rate of interest (estimated at 8%). One theory, advanced by Metals Dealer Andrew Racz, is that they were trying to raise money at low cost to invest in higher yielding (15%) U.S. Treasury bills, or even, as James Sinclair, another bullion broker, thinks, to buy more silver. But the prevailing belief was that Hunt, locked into a silver position that he could not sell out at any price he would accept, was in effect trying to turn his silver hoard into cash without actually selling...
Among the bullion, jewels, plate, rare marble and statuary the fleet brought back, the most celebrated work of art was a group of four antique gilt-bronze horses that Dandolo gave to his republic. They were hoisted, as supreme emblems of conquest, onto pedestals above the entrance to the San Marco Basilica. There they remained for some 750 years, except for a period when they were stolen by Napoleon, and when they were taken down for safekeeping during the two World Wars. Today the horses of San Marco remain the most famous bronzes to survive from the ancient world...
They stream in by the thousands lugging shopping bags and suitcases filled with silver spoons, tea sets, candle sticks, gold rings and bracelets-anything that can be sold for its precious metal value and melted down. Almost everywhere, people rush to barter away their gold and silver bullion. In London uniformed guards admit long lines of sellers one or two at a time into the precincts of Johnson Matthey & Co., metal dealers, while tough-looking street traders sidle up to impatient standees. "Are you sellin', luv?" coos one, whipping out brass scales and rolls of pound notes. On Manhattan...
...actions like those ordered earlier by New York's Commodity Exchange. Yet before Tuesday was out, buyers were rushing back in to take advantage of the "bargain" rates of $680 for gold and $34 for silver, and the metals began rising all over again. Said Les Edgar, chief bullion dealer at London's Sharps, Pixley Ltd.: "It's a casino business now, and people are playing it that...
Most of the pieces are ordinary silver, ranging from teaspoons to tea sets, but some are antiques worth far more than their weight in bullion. An exquisitely ornamented sterling cup made in 1835 changed hands in London for $272. Jeweler Abraham Lipchitz bought it on the street and quickly turned down an offer of $908 from a competitor. Said Lipchitz: "It's a crime. People are selling fine pieces like this to be melted down...