Does "Defect" & "No Gum" Constitute A Used Stamp? 1877 Italian Stamp

I have this 1877 Poste Italia, king Victor Emmanuel II stamp #27, that my grandfather bought on auction back in the 1970's.

It has a defect in bottom right corner, as well as no gum. Would this stamp be considered unused and potentially worth something, or used and basically worthless?

Unless issued without gum, ungummed stamps can be used but uncancelled. However, in the past, it was not uncommon for collectors to remove the gum. Of course, there can be other causes for the loss of gum. Nowadays, collectors are more concerned with original and full gum then they were in the past.

Although it is impossible to say which it is, there is a good chance that a very old stamp without gum is unused rather than that it escaped cancellation.

Essentially, removing the gum (now) is considered damaging the stamp. And damage is just that. Both detract from the stamp's value. It does not mean it is considered 'used' or worse.

If the stamp is rare, a damaged stamp without gum might be the only opportunity to add it to a collection and retain some value. But the unused price you will find in a catalogue will not be near what it would have been in that condition with damage and without gum. And then there is the usual gap between a catalogue price and the price at which a stamp of catalogue quality would sell for at an auction.

The selvedge used as mount is another minus.

A defect is a defect and does not change a stamp form unused to used nor used to unused.

Lack of gum does not make an unused stamp used.

For some unused stamps issued with gum from which the gum is now missing are prices in the catalog as unused, no gum. This varies by catalog publisher and country in question.

Assuming the stamp had the corner defect when purchased, the purchase price reflected the defect. This would be true about the lack of gum.

As to the current hinge, a proper soak will safely remove the hinge without removing any more gum as it does not exist. You would have a clean, not hinge defective unused stamp.

This is a rare unused stamp.
But damaged.
Unused has 3 categories. The discounts in CV (Sassone) for this stamp are:
Mint - ** - 100% CV
Mint Hinged - * - 50% CV
Mint no Gum - (*) - 15% CV
Still a 4-digit CV for (*).
The damage, however, demands the biggest discount.

Keep in mind that there are tons of used stamps that are valuable and they are never worthless unless severely damaged. Given the age and apparent scarcity, your stamp has value.