ALL California "gold" coins with the bear, or any other animal, on the reverse are modern tourist tokens. These designs, and there are at least a few hundred, began appearing in the 1920s. Depending on the intended market, the "coins" could be made of anything from brass, gold plated or not, to gold alloy as high as .750. Some of these designs are
still made today.
Authentic California Fractional Gold Coins were minted by several of the larger assayers and the small mints established by the Territorial Government, with a fewer the mints being authorized by Congress. Made in denominations of 1/4 dollar, 1/2 dollar, and 1 dollar, these coins were in general circulation until sufficient official US coinage was available. The reverse of all designs of authentic California Fractional Gold Coins will have the value marked with the word "Dollar", or an abbreviation such as "Dol" or "D".
The items your sister found are the tourist token variety and are of fairly common design. It is impossible to estimate the age or metal type from the images alone. They may not be junk, however. There is a market for these. Some collectors have an affinity for these tokens and will pay based on metal type, quality of plating, design of both obverse and reverse, and a host of other characteristics. Quality and purity of alloy is also considered if made of gold.
Some sellers, whether through ignorance or deception, will offer the tokens as authentic. This is evidenced by the plethora of these types of tokens and reproductions on eBay being offered as authentic when they clearly are not.
I congratulate you sister on this find. Should she wish to verify what I posted above, any good coin dealer with background in California Gold Coins should be able to help out.
Time for coffee.
