Bob,

what you have is a M 1849 pistol of the German Federal Navy. This was a Navy from 1848 to 1853 of the German Federation, a loose confederation of several German and mid Europe states, including Austria. The Navy was created during struggles with Denmark about the dukedoms Schleswig and Holstein and consisted of several wheel steamers and sailing ships. Beside the muskets, 1200 percussion naval pistols with belt hooks (these were later removed for some reason) were bought from Spangenberg Co, Schilling and (yours) G. Haenel, from Suhl. They are not prussian pistols-if you check the eagle stamp its a double a eagle of the (old) German empire and not the single eagle head of Prussia. The navy was abandoned in 1853, ships were sold (2 of them, the steamer "Barbarossa" and the sailing ship "Eckernfoerde" (later "Gefion") to Prussia together with a part of the arms. The bulk of the pistols were brought to the Federal fortress in Mainz. While the muskets were sold to Philadelphia, the pistols fate is unclear because they do not bear the mark of A.Wuerfflein like the muskets.

Best regards,

Marc