what can I remove from boards without devaluing them?

I came across a merlin legend phone system with all the modules and some extra ones. I popped open a few of the extra modules to check out the boards. I've removed the copper, any steel and al. Also removed a few ics that were not soldered on, and I cut the gold fingers off. I havent sent off a load of escrap yet, but when I do I'm going to send them to ewasted(chime in if you see this!). Would anything I've done so far devalue the boards? I am also considering removing the tantalum caps and resistors, and maybe clipping the gold pins in the rj-45 plugins. There's also a solid gold eprom soldered to the board that I'm itching to take off. Can I remove these things without significantly lowering the value? Sorry for all the questions, this is my first time breaking down telecom equipment. Thanks!

Well you have allready devalued the boards so go ahead take the rest, take the board from telcom=5.00-10.00# down to low grade=.20# Don't take anything off those boards.