Skinny pretty well explained it. I can add a little to that. I have been collecting and buying / selling pin fires for about eight years. I have bought some for less than $100 and seen one which sold for $48,000 US. - Which brings me to another canundrum - the best deals and selection are in the States and Europe but with our lousy dollar there are no deals to be had right now. You can pick up a dandy Civil War M1854 for about $1,500 US, but once you have added the exchange, GST and PST you're looking at over 2K Canadian. Not really worth it. Bringing them across the border is also a challenge; few dealers will ship internationally, and those who do usually charge extra shipping. I'm lucky I live a stone's throw from the border and have a PO box in the US. I have them shipped there and then bring them across. Still paying the exchange and taxes, though. My recommendation is to look at what you are going to buy very carefully because there are a lot of junky pin fire pistols out there. In the 1860's to 1890's the market in Europe was flooded with cheap junk pin fires, just like the "suicide specials" in the same era here in the Americas. There are hundreds of versions of the spur trigger 22's and 32's out there which you can also still pick up for less than $150. Same junk, different country. if you want a quality piece, look for a renowned maker such as Lefaucheux, Collette, Pirlot, Francotte, Loron, Rocour, Gastinne Renette, Arendt, etc. If they felt confident to put their names on it, they were usually quality guns. At the very least they should bear government proof marks - Belgian, French, British or German. The Spanish were not very insistent or consistent when it came to proofing, but the Belgians in particular were pretty good. You can also tell a lot about the age by the proofs, but that's getting a little too involved...
Then there is the question whether it was a civilian use or military use gun. Civilian guns are usually more ornate, some mindbogglingly so - intricate engraving, gold and silver inlays, ivory grips, etc. The expectation here is also that because it was sold to a civilian, it would be in better condition than a military gun. Military guns on the other hand are usually Plain-Jane, but well built and sturdy, and their condition expectedly worse from use. In other words, if you have a civilian and a military gun of the same condition side-by-side, very often the military gun will be graded as being the better one. many civilian use guns were bought by thoughtful husbands or wives to give to their partner for "self-protection", and never - ever - used. I have a few which are 150 years old and have never been fired. If you find a military version which has never been fired, you better hang on to it. it would be priceless!
The range of pin fire pistols goes from the smallest ever handgun at 2mm to the massive 15mm grapeshot blasters. There are 5mm, 7mm, 9mm, 12mm and 15mm (some claim a calibre in between, like 7.2mm, but these are the only one's I have ever heard of). You could try to specialize in one calibre, one type, just revolvers or just pistols... There is a lot out there! The only comprehensive literary work (in English) is Chris Curtis' book "Systeme Lefaucheux". It sells for about $45 on Amazon. A must-have if you are going to get into this genre, in fact, before you buy anything, buy his book! Pin fire guns are still largely under-appreciated, especially here in Canada. I'm probably the "expert" in our club (which doesn't say much - and one of only 2 collectors) I usually spend my time at the shows explaining how the pin fire system works (I made a 12mm cut-away of a cartridge because no one could understand my descriptions). Anyway, I hope this helps. if you are interested, shoot me a message and I will try to help you out. I have a few for sale, too - from about $300 up.
Cheers,
Chris
