Here is a list of Elements that you can find at home in their relatively pure form. Or as pure as possible.  Some of the sources are less common.  Some are very rare.

 

Common metals

Hydrogen [1]

Helium [2]

  • Helium tank for balloons [purity > 90%]

Lithium [3]

  • lithium grease [purity <10%] (low purity source)
  • lithium medicine [purity = 13.6%] (low purity source)
  • lithium batteries [purity <5-10%] (low purity source)

Berylium [4]

  • White ceramic electrical insulators (Beryllium oxide) [purity = 35%] (low purity source)

Boron [5]

  • Boric acid [purity <50%] (low purity source)

Carbon [6]

  • pencil graphite [purity > 95%]
  • graphite lubricant [purity > 90%]
  • dimonds [purity > 98%]
  • charcoal

Nitrogen [7]

  • The air around you is 78% nitrogen

Oxygen [8]

  • oxygen tanks at hardware stores or medical supplies [purity > 95%]

Fluorine [9]

  • Teflon thread seal tape [purity = 75%], best you will probably get

Neon [10]

  • neon lamps
  • small neon bulbs  (in old power indicators) [Purity >95%]

Sodium [11]

  • lye [purity  = 57%] (low purity source)

Magnesium [12]

  • Camp fire starter [purity = 97.2%]

Aluminum [13]

  • soda can
  • aluminum wire [Purity > 95%]
  • aluminum foil
  • aluminum heatsink [Purity > 99%]

Silicon [14]

  • microprocessor die

Phosphorus [15]

  • red striking surface of match box  (red-phosphorus) (low purity source)
  • strike-anywhere matches (low purity source)

Sulfur [16]

  • Pharmacies sell sulfur powder at [purity > 95%]

Chlorine [17]

  • table salt (NaCl) [purity = 50%] (low purity source)
  • Calcium chloride ice melter (low purity source)

Argon [18]

  • the gas inside a basic incandescent bulb [purity > 90%]

Potassium [19]

  • Salt substitute (NoSalt, Diet Salt) [purity = 52%] (low purity source)
  • Potassium Permanganate –  Aquarium disinfectant [purity = 25.7%] (low purity source)
  • Potassium Hydroxide – caustic potash –  [purity = 69.7%] (low purity source)
  • Potassium Carbonate – white powder solution leaking from an alkaline battery –  [purity = 56.6%] (low purity source)

Calcium [20]

  • Chalk (Calcium carbonate) [purity = 40%] (low purity source)

Scandium [21]

  • metal-halide bulb, Microsun bulb or dual-arc bulb [purity <1-2%] (low purity source)

Titanium [22]

  • titanium nuts and bolts [purity > 90%]
  • titanium golf clubs, tools, or jewelry [probable purity > 90%]

Vanadium [23]

  • chrome-vanadium steel [purity <1%] (low purity source)

Chromium [24]

  • stainless steel [purity <13-26%] (low purity source)
  • chrome-vanadium steel [purity <1%] (low purity source)

Manganese [25]

  • Lithium-manganese battery [purity < 50%] (low purity source)

Iron [26]

  • Nails [purity > 98%]

Cobalt [27]

  • Cobalt blue paint [purity <30%] (low purity source)

Nickel [28]

  • Canadian quarters pre 1990
  • The flat tab/wire attached to lithium ion battery cells in lithium-ion batteries

Copper [29]

  • copper wire [Purity >99%]
  • copper pipe
  • US penny, 1909-1982 [Purity =95%]
  • copper heat sink [Purity >99%]

Zinc [30]

  • US penny 1983-current, just remove the copper plating [Purity = 97.5%]
  • Zinc plated nails (low purity source)

Gallium [31]

  • Galistan thermometer [Purity < 65%]

Germanium [32]

  • Old germanium diode [purity = 99.99%]
  • germanium lenses used to focus infrared lens [Purity = 99.9%]

Arsenic [33]

  • CCA treated wood [purity < 5%] (low purity source)

Selenium [34]

  • photocopier drums [purity < 10%]

Bromine [35]

  • Hot tub salt/cleaner (NaBr) [purity = 77%]

Krypton [36]

  • Krypton Flashlight bulbs [purity > 90%]

Zirconium [40]

  • Old camera flash bulb, filament [purity > 50%] (low purity source)
  • Cubic zirconium [purity = 74%]

Niobium [41]

  • Belly rings and other niobium piercings [Purity > 80%]

Molybdenum [42]

  • Moly grease [purity <10%] (low purity source)
  • Moly powder (Molybdenum Disulfide) [purity = 60%] (low purity source)

Ruthenium [44]

  • pewter-colored beads (ruthenium plated)[plating purity = 99%]

Rhodium [45]

  • Rhodium plated jewelry [plating purity > 90%]
  • Reed switches [plating purity = 98%]

Palladium [46]

  • gold-palladium spark plug [purity <50%] (low purity source)
  • Catalytic converter [purity = 1%] (low purity source)

Silver [47]

  • silver jewelry (marked 925, is 92.5%, 999 is 99.9%)
  • true silverware
  • Pre 1964 USA dime/quarter/half dollar coins (purity = 90%)
  • pre 1967 Canadian coins

Cadmium [48]

  • Ni-Cad batteries [purity  = 3-17%] (low purity source) [2]
  • Cadmium yellow paint [purity <30%] (low purity source)
  • Photoresistor (Cadmium sulfide) [purity <30%] (low purity source)

Indium [49]

  • LCD screen (indium tin oxide make clear wires on thin film of LCD) (very low purity source)

Tin [50]

  • lead-free fly fishing, Split-Shot and Weight
  • Lead Free plumbing solder Alloy of 95% Tin and 5% Antimony. [purity = 95%]
  • Old tin toys

Antimony [51]

  • Lead-free plumbing wire solder [purity = 5%] (low purity source)
  • Antimony toys (like tin toys, but with antimony)
  • Antimony jewelry box

Tellurium [52]

  • CD-RW, DVD-RW Tellurium suboxide [Purity < 1%] (low purity source)
  • thermoelectric heat pump, Bismuth telluride heat pump. [Purity < 20%] (low purity source)

Iodine [53]

  • Tincture of Iodine [purity < 5%] (low purity source)

Xenon [54]

  • strobe light flash [purity > 95%]
  • Xenon short-arc lamp [purity > 99%]
  • small flashlight xenon bulb [purity > 5%] (low purity source)

Cesium [55]

  • Cesium Chloride [purity = 79%]

Barium [56]

  • Barium enema [purity < 50%] (low purity source)

Lanthanum [57]

  • Gas lantern mantels [purity < 40%] (low purity source)
  • Lighter flints (mischmetal) [purity < 20-30%] (low purity source)

Cerium [58]

  • Lighter flints (mischmetal)[purity < 20-30%] (low purity source)
  • campfire starter flint(mischmetal) [purity < 20%] (low purity source)
  • Cerium oxide – glass polisher conpount

Praseodymium [59]

  • fake peridot (cubic zirconium, tinted with Praseodymium) [purity < 1%] (low purity source)

Neodymium [60]

  • Neodymium (NbFeB) magnets [purity = 29-32%] (low purity source) [ref]
    • remove the nickel shell to get to the magnet partsome

Promethium [61]

  • No known common sources

Samarium [62]

  • samarium cobalt magnets [purity < 30%] (low purity source)
  • Guitar pickup(with samarium cobalt magnets) [purity < 30%] (low purity source)

Europium [63]

  • Glow in the dark power [purity < 2%] (low purity source)
  • Glow in the dark paint [purity < 50%] (low purity source)

Gadolinium [64]

  • No known common sources

Terbium [65]

  • No known common sources

Dysprosium [66]

  • Neodymium (NbFeB) magnets from electric cars may contain 0.8-1.2% dysprosium, but hard drive magnets do not. [ref][ref]

Holmium [67]

  • No known common sources

Erbium [68]

  • Erbium-Doped Fiber optic wire

  • Pink Torchworking/Lampworking glass rods [purity < 10%] (low purity source)

Thulium [69]

  • No known common sources

Ytterbium [70]

  • No known common sources

Lutetium [71]

  • rare, uncommonly used and expensive
  • No known common sources

Hafnium [72]

  • Hafnium Plasma cutter electrode [Purity > 70%]

Tantalum [73]

  • Tantalum capacitors [Purity: 40-50%](low purity source)
    • have a tiny pure tantalum rod(anode), surrounded by tantalum-pentoxide(dialectic), the case and leads, easy to crack open the removed[ref][ref][ref]

Tungsten [74]

  • incandescent light bulb filament [purity > 90%]
  • Tungsten carbide tools and stuff [purity < 50%] (low purity source) varies, can be higher

Rhenium [75]

  • Rhenium camera flash bulb [purity > 50%] (low purity source)
    • The igniter is rhenium, not the filament

Osmium [76]

  • Some Osmium phonograph needles [purity < 50%] (low purity source)
    • some Osmium phonograph needles have none

Iridium [77]

  • iridium spark plugs [purity > 90%]

Platnium [78]

  • platinum spark plugs [purity > 90%]
  • platinum jewelry

Gold [79]

  • 24K gold is 99-100% or close to it

Mercury [80]

  • old thermostats
  • old thermometers

Thallium [81]

  • No known common sources

Lead [82]

  • automobile tire balance  (with steel attachment removed)
  • lead fishing weight
  • lead bullet

Bismuth [83]

  • “Safe” shotgun shot pelets [purity = 97%]
  • pepto-bismol [purity <57%] (low purity source)

Polonium [84]

  • polonium is radioactive and has a half life of 138 days, so what ever your source it won’t last more than a year
  • Phonograph antistatic brush [purity <20%] (low purity source)

Radium [88]

  • Radioactive!
  • spinthariscope [purity <0.1%] (low purity source)
  • radium watch hands, probable the best source you will find [purity <1%] (low purity source)

Thorium [90]

  • Some old coleman-type camping lanterns, probably the best source you will find. [purity < 30%] (low purity source)
  • thoriated tungsten welding rods [purity = 1.75%] (low purity source)

Uranium [92]

  • Fiestaware ceramic tableware [purity < 5%] (low purity source)
  • Vaseline glassware [purity < 5%] (low purity source)
  • Vaseline glass marbles [purity < 5%] (low purity source)

Neptunium [93]

  • Smoke detectors
    • Smoke detectors actually contains Americium, which has a half life of 471 years. and decays into neptunium.  So the Americium turns to neptunium about 1% each decade.
    • radioactive, it is safe if kept in glass bottle, since alpha particles don’t penetrate glass, or the cork.

Americium [95]

  • Smoke detectors
    • radioactive, it is safe if kept in glass bottle, since alpha particles don’t penetrate glass, or the cork.

Noncollectable elements:

In pure form:

  • Fluorine[9]:Pure form can’t be stored for any reasonable time, combustive on contact to pretty much everything

In general:

  • Technetium[43] – radioactive and pretty impossible to get
  • astatine[85] – extremely short half-life
  • radon[86] – Radioactive gas, has a half-life is only 3.8 days, so it can’t be collected by its self. Thorium breaks down to Radon, so if you have some Thorium in a sealed container, then you have a microscopic amount Radon.
  • francium[87] – extremely short half-life
  • actinium[89] – extremely short half-life
  • protactinium[91] – extremely short half-life
  • Plutonium[94] – Pretty much illegal to own
  • Rutherfordium[104] – does not occur in nature, extremely short half-life
  • Dubnium[105] – does not occur in nature, extremely short half-life
  • Seaborgium[106]
  • Bohrium[107]
  • Hassium[108]
  • Meitnerium[109]
  • Darmstadtium[110] –
  • Curium does not occur in nature, but it can be created in nuclear reactors and it has a few industrial applications. It is extremely radioactive, extremely toxic, and extremely hard to get.
  • Berkelium does not occur in nature, but it can be created in nuclear reactors and it has a few industrial applications. It is extremely radioactive, extremely toxic, and extremely hard to get.
  • Californium – does not occur in nature, but it can be created in nuclear reactors and it has a few industrial applications. It is extremely radioactive, extremely toxic, and extremely hard to get. [1]
  • Einsteinium
  • Fermium[104] – does not occur in nature, extremely short half-life
  • Mendelevium[104] – does not occur in nature, extremely short half-life
  • Nobelium[104] – does not occur in nature, extremely short half-life
  • Lawrencium[104] – does not occur in nature, extremely short half-life

 

Purchasing:

Here are some items that have high purity while still remaining fairly cheap.  It is sometimes cheaper to get it in wire form, while others are cheaper in lump for.  I try to list the cheapest form.

  • 24K PURE  GOLD GENUINE LEAF SHEET ($1-3)
  • 10mm X0.15mm 99.7% Pure Nickel strip for 26650 18650 21700 battery spot weld ($2-4)
  • Niobium Nb1 wire 99.99 pure ($2-5)
  • Pure Titanium wire 0.5mm uncut 99.99 Ti wire grade A ($1-4)
  • 10 grams 1.76oz High Purity 99.7% Manganese Mn Metal Lumps Vacuum packing ($1-3)
  • 10 grams High Purity 99.999% Zinc Zn Metal Lumps Vacuum packing ($2-4)
  • 10 grams High Purity 99.99% Chromium Cr Metal Lumps Vacuum packing ($2-4)
  • 5 grams High Purity 99.995% Indium in Metal Lumps Vacuum packing ($5-8)
  • 5 grams High Purity 99.99% TELLURIUM Te Metal Lumps Vacuum packing ($3-7)
  • 10 grams High Purity 99.99% Cobalt Co Metal Lumps Vacuum packing ($2-7)
  • 2 grams High Purity 99.99% Vanadium V Metal Lumps Vacuum packing ($3-7)
  • 20 grams High Purity 99.9999% Monocrystalline Silicon Si Metal Lumps ($3-7)
  • 10 grams High Purity 99.99% Bismuth Bi Metal Lumps Vacuum packing ($1-4)
  • N1 Rolls 99.95% 25g 70ft Magnesium Ribbon Lab Chemicals ($2-4)
  • Lanthanum Metal 99.7% Pure 5g ($6)
  • Dysprosium Metal 99.5% Pure 5g ($5)
  • Cerium Metal 99.95% Pure 5g ($5)
  • Gadolinium Metal 99.9% Pure 5g ($5)
  • Erbium Metal 99.9% Pure 1g ($5)
  • Iodine “Metal” Crystals 99.8% Pure 10g ($6)
  • Terbium Metal 99.5% Pure 1g ($5)

  • 0.1 gram 99.99% Scandium Metal in glass vial – Pure Element 21 sample ($12-20)

  • Molybdenum Rod Mo Metal Rod Diameter 10mm Length 50mm Purity 99.95% ($6-10)

  • 10grams High Purity 99.999% Molybdenum MO Metal Lumps Vacuum packing ($4-6

 My collection:

 

Reference: