Many attributes of postally used covers are taken into account when evaluating them. Assuming that general condition is average or better, the most important attribute is whether the affixed stamps have been cancelled, especially if cancellations of the time and place help to provide provenance. Without a stamp, and in the absence of other postal markings, transit damage, etc., such a cover cannot prove to its owner that it was ever in the mail stream. In short, postally used cover with un-cancelled stamp or stamps is kind of like a mule, with no pride of ancestry and no hope of paternity.
Bob
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