EBay, Collectors, Flea Market & Antiques

.....and was told that jewelry (for example, class pins or fraternity pins) that are gold mixed in with other components were not wanted as it was too difficult to extract the gold.

Of course, the price of gold has gone way up since then. Maybe the professional buyers do buy that stuff now.

And yeah, carrying a loupe is a good idea for any kind of buying/collecting.