If the news that samarium happens to be one of the most common of the rare earth metals sounds like an oxymoron you can blame it on the fact that “rare earth” is a misnomer of sorts. This term originated in the 19th century and was a fancier synonym to “difficult”. As in, wow, it sure is difficult separating these damn metals one from another! While the obscure definition quickly fell into disuse the chemistry world did not abandon the odd terminology.

Regardless, samarium metal is third in line behind cerium and lanthanum in terms of output among the suppliers that refine the lanthanide series metals. Much of that supply goes to make specialty magnets. The pure metal, however, is sensitive to atmospheric oxygen turning its surface dark over time (as seen here) though retaining an attractive degree of luster making it appear as though it’s an actual black metal. If you’d rather keep the light yellow metallic color as long as possble we recommended that the bars be kept in the original blister card.