46 Palladium

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Palladium currently costs about the same as gold, but during the 1990s it briefly tripled in price because of the Ford Motor Companies stockpiling of huge quantities of it for use in their catalytic converters. It turned out that improvements in technology reduced the need, and Ford ended up selling their stockpile at a loss.

While not common, palladium coins have been minted by a number of countries, notably Russia: They are quite beautiful.

Small rectangle of 0.01mm foil, 99.999%
We didn't expect anyone to send us free gold and platinum, but this is pretty close! This small sample was kindly donated by George (not 007) Lazenby, who saw the slashdot discussion. It came in a lovely little plastic vial.
George got this and the other samples he donated at a surplus auction of his high school. It seems he was the only one there who appreciated the erbium foil. This sample and the others he sent had been donated to the school by a former student who worked at NIST (National Institute for Standards and Testing), where they had been used as x-ray calibration standards. This means they are probably very pure.
Source: George (not 007) Lazenby
Contributor: George (not 007) Lazenby
Acquired: 24 May, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 1"
Purity: 99.999%

Spark plug.
These spark plugs, now discontinued, were made with a gold-palladium alloy center electrode. Some people swear by them, other people swear at them. In any case, the company (Champion) replaced them with a platinum version.
Here's an interesting article about different elements in spark plugs.
Source: eBay seller drsusphd
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 10 January, 2003
Price: $8/4
Size: 3"
Purity: <50%

Sample from the Red Green and Blue Company Element Set.
The Red Green and Blue company in England sells a very nice element collection in several versions. Max Whitby, the director of the company, very kindly donated a complete set to the periodic table table.

To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description or the company's website which includes many photographs and pricing details. I have two photographs of each sample from the set: One taken by me and one from the company. You can see photographs of all the samples displayed in a periodic table format: my pictures or their pictures. Or you can see both side-by-side with bigger pictures in numerical order.

The picture on the left was taken by me. Here is the company's version (there is some variation between sets, so the pictures sometimes show different variations of the samples):

Source: Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company
Contributor: Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company
Acquired: 25 January, 2003
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: 99.9%

Sample from the Everest Element Set.
Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. At some point their American distributor sold off the remaining stock to a man who is now selling them on eBay. The samples (excepted gasses) weight about 0.25 grams each, and the whole set comes in a very nice wooden box with a printed periodic table in the lid.

To learn more about the set you can visit my page about element collecting for a general description and information about how to buy one, or you can see photographs of all the samples from the set displayed on my website in a periodic table layout or with bigger pictures in numerical order.

Source: Rob Accurso
Contributor: Rob Accurso
Acquired: 7 February, 2003
Price: Donated
Size: 0.2"
Purity: >99%

Natural granules. (External Sample)
Small dish of naturally occurring palladium granules.
Location: The Harvard Museum of Natural History
Photographed: 2 October, 2002
Size: 1
Purity: >90%