Lanthanum is the first of the "rare earths", which are really not all that rare at all. Many of them are more common than silver, bismuth, and other things thought of as only somewhat rare. Until not too long ago they were quite difficult to separate from each other, and hence very expensive. But there are now ion-exchange methods that allow their separation in industrial quantities at reasonable cost. They are still fairly expensive, on the order of a few hundred dollars per kilogram. This is somewhat more than silver, but far less than gold. (Some rare earths really are very rare and very expensive, but not lanthanum.) There are not all that many good uses for the rare earths, and in many applications it actually doesn't much matter which one you're using, because they are chemically very similar (that's also why they are hard to separate). Detailed Technical Data Compare at other websites: www.webelements.com Los Alamos National Labs Royal Society of Chemistry Toxicology Isotope information Minerals Translations and Etymology Science Fiction (Main Site) Comics Poetry (Main Site) Haiku (Main Site) Collections: Samples with Rotatable Images Great hunk-o-metal. Lanthanum is one of the elements you don't expect to find in big chunks. At least I don't. This 25 gram lump is more than I have of any other rare earth in pure form. It's in a very cute glass ampule that warns of vigorous reaction with water. (The ampule is filled with argon gas to prevent any corrosion.) Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company in England donated this sample. The Red Green & Blue Company is selling a periodic table collection containing smaller amounts of the same stuff, and if you want a ready-made collection of elements, that's the first place I would look. Note that this particular sample is much bigger than what you get with the set (it wouldn't fit in the box!). See the next sample for an example of what you get with the set. Source: Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company Contributor: Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company Acquired: 15 October, 2002 Price: Donated Size: 1.5" Purity: 99.4% 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: 99.4% 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%