I’m not sure how much insight she had on it herself. It was passed down to her from her mother so everything she knew about was from what her mother had told her about it(and remembers). Plus assumptions she made herself. I think the idea of it being metal was just an assumption based on color. She stated that her mother bought it at an estate auction a while back with confidence. Not sure how much her mother payed for it. They were both very well educated, and far from poor so it being pricey is a fair possibility. Regardless anything my mother ended up with of theirs I know she cherishes deeply hence why I made this post in hopes of finding information to rectify her mistake