These Sammies kick off our Rare Earth metal density cube series. It wasn't lack of interest in the Lanthanides that's kept them til so late in the game but rather expense. While our suppliers have been eager to please with small runs and even some free prototypes of the more common metals the REs were a different story. Many don't want to handle them at all, citing lack of technical know-how while others demanded steep upfront investment and few wanting to commit to any sort of quality control. With those kinds of caveats it's hard to jump in willingly.

But jump in we did - and to the deep end of the pool! We've ironed out the wrinkles and are ready to offer high-quality density cubes that are every bit as superbly finished as the others in our lineup.

As a raw commodity, samarium is one of the more abundant metals that comes out of the cocktail of rare earths ores euxenite, monazite and other exotic -ites that yield the little-known metals group. However, unlike most of the rest of this 14-strong gang, samarium has strong demand in making industrial grade magnets. This skews the price and gives the impression that it's rarer than it actually is in nature.

Like lead or copper, samarium is shiny when first made but soon turns dark gray. Unlike those two, however, it retains some of its luster indefinitely. The laser engraving is also unique in that it appears light yellow… an unintentional byproduct of oxides forming under the brief heat of the laser!

10mm cube weight is 7.5±0.05g.