They are bronze with a painted background, yep, they are stamped in a coining press. We had a place that made them for us for years then one day we ordered them and they had thrown out the dies saying we hadn't ordered them in six months was the reasoning. After some back and forth they made a new die for the ones you see but they made the die with a "dam" around the Indian head about .015 wide and .03 tall which is not how they need to be, they then made several hundred in various colors before shipping us one like they said they would. In the end, we didn't pay them, they didn't want the parts back so I have been moving them from here to there for several years as they were not good enough to sell but too good to throw away, some of them got used here but there are a bunch left. We just had another place make a die for them a year or so back, they also didn't send one but ran 100 of them with an ugly flat face, remade the die and made real nice parts. A month later we ordered a different color and got the ugly flat face again, they tossed the good die and kept the bad one, so they are in the process of making a new die as we speak so yes, they are somewhat expensive though we have not had the worst share of the cost but rather the aggravation. I really hate having to rely on outside vendors but as you know, we can't make every damn thing we need.