Never seen one like this.............

[alanint]

Originally Posted by alvin

Just curious, what's supposed to be the material of this medal? gold, silver, or iron, or ... I don't know.

The inner core is iron, which is what gave the original medals their name. Issued medals then had the iron enclosed via a German Silver outer frame. This is composed of two half shells, which enclose the iron core. They are soldered together.

This appears to have been privately made by taking an original iron core, (with the dates and oak leaves) and a new frame of precious metal fabricated to hold the core. It is a nice example of a private purchase item, but has no historical significanse in the sense that it is an issued and approved higher award, like in the case of Hans-Ulrich Rudel in WW2.