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HankronI didn't say that the Joseph Hall Cabinets were not sold commercially (I also didn't say they were). I merely said that it was arbitrary that these were picked for a baseball card price guide over the many similar cabinet cards and cartes de visite made by other photographers.
Though trading card collectors have a bias towards and need for definive answers (is it a trading card or isn't it?), it is often impossible to determine whether or not a particular cabinet card or cartes de visite was sold commercially or not. In some cases, there are enough copies of a particular Abe Lincoln CDV to reasonably judge that it was sold commercially. But in many cases there is no answer and never will be.