Have these at home. Unsure what they actually are.

The on on the left (the cone shaped one) is a Burnside cartridge for the Burnside carbine.

viper is correct about the Burnside. I believe the two copper cased cartridges might be inside primed, not to be confused with rimfire. The small, bottlenecked brass case I can honestly say I am clueless.

#2 is one of the Spencer Rim Fires (56-56?), the 2 tick marks are from the machine that was used to spin the case for rolling the case mouth.
#3 is a inside primed center fire (the crimps low on the side are holding the primer insert in place). Probably a 45 (Schofield, Army or Colt, depending on length)

any idea what year(s) these are from?

The three larger cartridges are US Civil War era. The The .54 Burnside dates from 1860 , was for a breech loading musket conversion. Its separate primed - ie
fired by a percussion cap on a nipple .

The 56-50 Spencer cartridge is also Civil War era , for the Spencer Repeating Rifle , and is a rimfire.It dates from 1864. The two centrifuge tic marks aon the base are where the cartridge case was spun to throw the wet priming compound out into the rim , before being set aside to dry. Explosions were not uncommon at that stage of the process , priming compounds were not the most stable of materials.

The inside primed pistol round may be a 45 Schofield , but I am not certain . Dates from the end of the Civil War era/ Indian Wars period.

The little guy I think is a Nagant Gas-Seal cartridge , 1890 or so . Not overly confident on that but its a best guess.

i'll be danged, thats pretty cool. these things worth anything? as in should i keep them somewhere different than a ziploc bag in my shed?

The Burnside is worth a few bucks , but I am not up with prices in the US these days . I would probably keep them somewhere with a dry climate , maybe leave them in the ziplock bag but add a dessicant sachet and put them somewhere kids and dogs wont find them.

Condition,condition,condition, Oh ! and head stamps,The 58 cal,Burnside has seen some rough times, in good shape it would be worth between $35.00 to $50.00, The spencer has no head stamp that I can see ,in good condition $20.00 to $25.00, as for the third cartridge ,I have a 44 cal Interal primed cartridge ,that looks like your,in good condition $10.00 to $15.00 dollars .
As four the 4th cartridge ,we need dimensions,length of "OAL" cartridge,length of brass ,dia,of brass at top,dia. of rim and thickness of rim....

Good luck BB

so not worthy any money to fret about them basiclly.

quote:

Originally posted by Fourtyonesix:
so not worthy any money to fret about them basiclly.

For sure when on has to ship them.

They are old and interesting , and that has a value beyond monetary. I would keep them in a dry place , away from damage , and just be happy owning several interesting pieces of early US Martial History.

Not everything has to have a dollar value . Enjoy.

They do have value, just not top dollar. To an entry level collector just starting out these cartridges are worth having in a collection.
The 56-56 Spencer and the 58 cal. Burnside, and the 44 or 45 internally primed cartridge were all developed during the civil war ! The civil war was instrumental in experimenting and building guns and ammunition that got us were we are today !

There were many manufactures that tried to sell to the government there weapons, and ammo, pin fires, teat fires, cup fires, Ballard's and Bullard's ,and Henry, and Evans, and Sharps and Maynard's, Remington , the list goes on . And then there were Peabody's post C.W.
The civil war only had one big issue, all the cartridge designers had only black powder as a propellant !

That's the fun of collecting, is the man or men behind the cartridge seeing a vision and creating their dream ,and now I own some of these cartridges .

Read up on the 7x61 Sharpes and Hart ,and see why it is so good yet failed in the USA .I own a model 60 and, it's a dream to shoot !

Good luck BB

Instead of keeping them in a baggie, why not find an appropriate size "glass top display box"
and hang them on a wall somewhere.

You have a .54 caliber Burnside.
a .56-50 Spencer rimfire
a .45 Colt or S&W inside primed center fire with Benet cup primer.
The last cartridge is a toy gun cartridge. I am not sure what toy gun their are for but I have several just like it in my collection.