An industrial metal, manganese is used to render desirable properties to steel such as strength and resistance to corrosion. It would be really cool to be able to buy, say, a spoon made out of pure manganese but there is no such thing. In fact, despite being a rather common metal it is actually only rarely available as a standalone metal at all; and then only typically as powder or unattractive electrolytic "chips" shiny on one side and the other mottled and oxidized. In an altogether different category we find lab created nodules made for studying naturally occurring alloys rich in manganese that are found on the ocean floor. This one is over 99% pure and embedded in a 2 inch block of gorgeous Lucite.