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Cerium is one of the most common, cheapest of the "rare earths", which really aren't that rare at all. It is used in lighter flints because it will ignite in air when heated and shaved off in small particles, as when a steel wheel strikes a "flint" (which isn't made of flint at all, but of an alloy consisting of iron, cerium, and several other rare earths).
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  Mischmetal striking flint.
Removed from the camp fire starter that supplied the Magnesium sample, purchased at Walmart in April 2002. Probably about 20-30% Cerium overall, the remainder being other rare earths and iron.
Source: Walmart
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 15 April, 2002
Price: $4
Size: 3"
Purity: <30%
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Optical polishing powder.
Cerium oxide in the form of a very fine powder is used as a polishing compound for optical glass. Supposed it works better than aluminum oxide or other abrasives in certain situations. It's very cheap: A few dollars a pound, which tells you something about how rare the "rare" earths actually are, which is not very.
Source: eBay seller fellows
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 1 October, 2002
Price: $5
Size: 1"
Purity: <30%
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Metal sliver.
This sample of metallic cerium arrived coated in mineral oil in a plastic bag, because it would otherwise likely have oxidized away in transit. I cleaned it up some and put it in a dish covered with fresh mineral oil.
It happened to arrive in my mailbox on the very day Oliver Sacks was visiting the Periodic Table Table, so we got to open it together.
Source: Andrew Goodall
Contributor: Andrew Goodall
Acquired: 12 November, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 1"
Purity: >80%
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 Lump.
This sample arrived with a full set of lanthanides at a time when I was missing europium, terbium, holmium, ytterbium, and of course lutetium.
This very kind donation from Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company in England completed my element collection, to the extent that it gave me a plausible sample of every element one can plausibly have a sample of. (The Red Green & Blue Company is selling a periodic table collection containing similar samples of the same stuff, and if you want a ready-made collection of elements, that's the first place I would look.)
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: 20 December, 2002
Price: Donated
Size: 0.5"
Purity: 99.4%
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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%
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