Magnetorheological (MR) pin joint is a novel device in which its joint moment resistance can be controlled in real-time by altering the applied magnetic field. The smart pin joint is intended to be used as a controllable connector between the columns and beams of a civil structure to instantaneously shift the structural natural frequencies in order to avoid resonance and therefore to reduce unwanted vibrations and hence prevent structural damage. As an intrinsically nonlinear device, modelling of this MR fluid based device is a challenging task and makes the design of a suitable control algorithm a cumbersome situation. Aimed at its application in civil structure, the main purpose of this paper is to test and characterise the hysteretic behaviour of MR pin joint. A test scheme is designed to obtain the dynamic performance of MR pin joint in the dominant earthquake frequency range. Some unique phenomena different from those of MR damper are observed through the experimental testing. A computationally-efficient model is proposed by introducing a hyperbolic element to accurately reproduce its dynamic behaviour and to further facilitate the design of a suitable control algorithm. Comprehensive investigations on the model accuracy and dependences of the proposed model on loading condition (frequency and amplitude) and input current level are reported in the last section of this paper.