Sentence:  It was an act to <WSD>bullionize</WSD> the debt of the United States and to give a value of five hundred millions to the unfortunate creditors, those poor fllows that lay like Lazarus at the gates of the rich man to pick up the crumbs that fell from the Government table: an act to raise the securiities from eighty cents in the dollar to $1.20 in the dollar! 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To convert or make convertible to bullion, especially gold bullion.