Posted on 06/22/2018 1:27:34 PM PDT by Gamecock
A man was killed early Thursday morning in east Oklahoma City after being electrocuted while attempting to steal copper wire from a light pole, according to KWTV. The spike in copper prices in recent years has driven well known black market for the metal.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau reported that over a three year period there were 28,000 claims for theft of industrial metals -- 98% of which was copper. The trend has been attributed to copper's ease of access, as it is often unguarded in industrial air conditioning units, open construction sites, abandoned properties and public power utilities.
The NICB added that while there was a reported decline in these claims following a decline in copper prices and a nationwide effort to enact laws to combat this black market, prices have climbed back up, and the U.S. Department of Energy still estimates copper thieves are netting over $1 billion annually.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, copper theft in Oklahoma is a felony for both thieves and recipients who knowingly purchase stolen materials, with one to five year prison sentences and $100 to $500 fines.
Research published in the American Economist noted that the impact of copper theft from public utilities can have massive impacts on the general public: in May 2015, the theft of 500 feet of copper disrupted rail service on a New York City train line serving 775,000 riders daily.
“copper pennies have been mostly zinc (97.5%) since 1983”
A copper clad penny mostly made from zinc is therefore not a copper penny.
That reeks of microaggression. /g
perps family will probably sue
At least he died doing something he loved.
They used to play a song on a country station here in N. Texas about a guy who tried to steal the copper from the electric line. He got electrocuted in the process. Don’t recall all the words, but I do recall that his arm flopped around and played a tune on the wire: “Dit da dit da dit.”
This afternoon, the captain wants to water ski...
Pennies dated before 1982 are made of 95% copper.
If there isn’t wheat on the back, they are no good...
The topic was whether they contained copper, not whether they were pre-1957
Well, fuse boxes are relatively rare these days.
Zinc is a fairly good conductor of electricity.
Exactly. Most/some/most/odds are good. Penny is still worth a penny. Change today contains copper pennies worth 2.5 cents vs the monetary amount.
once less @sswipe in the world
The U.S. Mint switched over to (mostly) zinc pennies in 1982.
I save all copper pennies from 1981 and earlier and have jars and jars of them. At the very least, they’ll always be worth face value.
It’s a BAD THING when a coin’s metal content value is well above its nominal value.
Darwin award candidate. Let’s see, copper is about $3 per pound. Gotta steal 100 pound to get a measly $300, assuming thief can get market price. Risk-reward says it’s stupid to try.
I’m stealing that little jewel if you don’t mind.
Free cable - Homer Simpson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-W8Ox3YsAE
Truth is, this idiot probably died trying to steal ALUMINUM wire. Power lines running on the poles aren’t copper
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