Yeah they actually ask for photo ID now round here.
I only 'steal' copper/lead etc from either buildings that are completely uninhabited and derelict, with the only people ever going to lay claim to whats there to be had, being other people breaking in to take the metal. In that kind of situation, I figure better I make the money than some other bugger.
Or, I take scrap aluminium from a local metalworks, after its been thrown out into the skip they keep. Literally, their rubbish, they don't reuse it, so I figure I may as well either take it to sell it, or for preparation of aluminium amalgam, or other Al-based reducing agents and thermite.
We have a lot of issues with fucking foreigners basically, PARTICULARLY romanians, and other eastern european criminal gangs that specialize in metal theft, railway power lines, subway wiring, phone cabling, war memorials. Basically if its not solidly bolted down to the floor some filthy fucking romanian will do a runner with it.
The other bits I help myself to, are anything valuable I find thats been thrown in a skip for disposal. What does it matter, if the former owner wants it disposed of, who's hand does the disposing? again, bettter me, than anyone else (as far as I'm concerned)
I save it up until theres a big pile to go and trade in, and doing that you can actually make some quite good money off it. I've got as much as £25-30 for a couple of car batteries and a few armfuls of copper pipe. All of half an hour's work to get it from my place to the scrap merchant, and no work at all, if I can get a lift in my old man's car.
I've found much better than that, metal wise, in skips before. I still have a solid silver jerusalem cross necklace, plus chain (although the original chain broke so I'm just keeping the bits for
the next time I require some silver nitrate [just toss it in HNO3, and boil off excess nitric after dissolving the metal], a bit of a bastard really because I cannot for the life of me find a similar chain anywhere for sale, its like a thick-gauge braided wire rope, in small looped sections. Quite heavy. But I've looked and looked, bringing the original with me, can't find anything like it.)
Plus there was a broken rolex and a load of silver buttons, wasn't sure about the buttons when I was searching the skip, but took them anyway, and it proved the right decision, as they reacted appropriately when one was exposed to a little hydrogen sulfide (silver turns blackish due to formation of a sulfide of the metal on exposure to H2S. Just a test to be damn careful with, as its toxic in a similar manner to cyanides, both in manner of action and sheer speed (a single breath is enough to kill, if its concentrated, before you have chance to react, let alone call for help), sulfur can be used too, but that means vaporizing the stuff, heating the metal to encourage a faster reaction etc. a pain in the ass compared to treating a questionable silver sample with H2S)
The jerusalem cross is antique, too. 1700s-1800s. Found an ivory (I think, it could also be whalebone) page-turner, inlaid with silver lettering, with a big heavy silver cap at one end.
The family that threw that stuff out....they must either be batshit crazy or stinking rich (or both)
Not sure if I COULD sell the possible ivory item, so its been around ever since, and I'm not GOING to sell the jerusalem cross, I LIKE it, and I'm keeping it for myself, to wear. Can't remember how much weight of Ag is there, but its thick, wide, and really quite weighty in the hand, its about 4 1/2 to slightly wider in diameter, the thinner outer disc part is 2.5 MAYBE 3 mm thick, whilst the center, which has a raised, spiralling conical type motif, thats nearly half an inch thick. So even as scrap it would be at least the price of a couple of lab flasks, although I'd far, far sooner keep the necklace (yeah, I know, I know! but I money is money, there will always be more of it somewhere, but antique necklaces like that don't turn up every day.