I carry a magnet in my pocket when going to buy coins....I have proven some of the things I have wanted to buy as fakes. But bought them anyway at a cheap price just for fun.
I've had a California Fractional gold coin. Condition is not primary with them. They are so small that they were not used much and tended to stay in good shape (except when they got bent). The variety number however is a key. We would need some really nice pictures on that so we can start to tell what you have.