A sintered material having a relative density of at least 96% and comprising an iron-based alloy composition comprising Ni, C and at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mo, Mn, Cr, B and Si, with the remainder being made up of Fe and impurities, and a system in which, in a cross section of a surface layer from the surface to 200μm towards the interior, at most 250 compound particles having a size of at least 0.3μm are present per 100μm×100μm unit area.