Sulfur is a profoundly inappropriate choice to appear on a page about bullion investments. The stuff can be obtained for practically free. No, not practically - literally. Wherever there are ground fissures from which gases escape the yellow crust of brimstone is likely there, free for the taking! And sulfur is an element used in countless applications from the petrochemical, to pharmaceutical, auto and food industries.

Wherever it’s found, however, sulfur is likely bound up chemically with other elements. Per Google, a search on “made of pure sulfur” shows only Luciteria’s own products. This isn’t entirely true though. There are rare occasions on which this yellow element is used in its natural, uncombined state such as environmentally friendly persticides and a stinky soap I believe was meant to scare children into washing up.

Speaking of soap, that would be a good description to begin describining these bars. Sulfur has a number of complex forms at an atomic level ranging from deep orange to bright yellow and from translucent to opaque. The bright and opaque form is the most common but the deeper hue features here. The process for making these is complex and laborious. A simple casting cannot be used because the molten form contracts substantially upon cooling wrecking the delicate text engraving and the smoothness of the walls. Instead, the cooling mass must be formed during the precise moment immediately after initial solidification. In addition to increasing their cost, it also results in speckling and other artifacts of the various allotropic forms mentioned.

You’re guaranteed to never make a dime owning one of these but there’s a good chance it might become the most unusual and eye-catching ounce bar you’ll ever own! Full-time white glove treatment is necessary however: a fall from the hand virtually guarantees the poor thing will shatter.