Phosphorus, like carbon, comes in a number of different forms. The element in nature is practically everywhere and its most common form is a dark red like powdered brick - and would cost about as much if it weren’t for government regulations making it difficult to acquire in any appreciable quantity. Next up is the so-called violet allotrope which is believed to be an intermediate phase between the red and the black; far and away its most exotic state.

Some 10 to 20 times the cost of gold, depending on a number of esoteric factors, the creation of black phosphorus is normally carried out only by well-appointed laboratories with autoclaves (a special type of furnace that heats under pressure) that can reach temperatures of a thousand degrees Celsius and, simultaneously, pressures ten times that found at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean or, if you prefer, imagine that netherly trench covered in lead(!)

In that little piece of hell you can transform ordinary red phosphorus into a new atomic arrangement that form sheets with strong bonds across and weak above and below. It is the analogue of carbon’s graphite and science is licking its chops over a medley of desirable electrical properties which could revolutionize electronics. If, of course, production could only be ramped up to commercially significant quantities.

For now this exotic bit of matter is little more than the twinkle in the eyes of industrial scientists. Until then enjoy - nay, brag! - of owning a little of this promised fruit of tomorrow with this rare opportunity.