Incredible crystals.
This is a truly lovely amount of scandium, ten grams, which would cost you over a thousand dollars from a chemical supplier. It was contributed by a party who wishes to remain anonymous. While it is very pure, 99.9%, that is not pure enough to be of any use in the industrial process their company is involved in, so they felt a contribution to the Periodic Table was in order. For which the Periodic Table is deeply appreciative: This is really an amazing hunk of a very rare substance. The crystals on it are quite remarkable.
The only thing I regret about it is that it's sealed under argon in a glass tube. The value and purity of the sample is such that I could never break the glass, which means I can never actually hold it in my hand. I'll just have to admire it from afar.
Here is a photograph taken through an inspection microscope of an even larger sample (not mine, unfortunately), worth tens of thousands of dollars. Confidentiality prevents me from describing anything more about the size or shape of the sample, only a portion of which you see here:
Source: Anonymous
Contributor: Anonymous
Acquired: 9 September, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 1"
Purity: 99.9%
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