iron no signature

Tsuba Iron

I can see why Tsuba are a separate entity for collectors. This one is an iron tsuba - is iron used because it is cheaper than bronze or easier/harder to work or some other reason?
Is it possible to roughly date just by shape and design, when there is no signature present? Has this shape got a specific name? It is almost like a rounded, soft octagon. It is 70mm by 62mm by 3mm thickness. A dragon - not sure what it's doing?

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