Alan Holyoake

Alan Manfred Holyoake (born December 1945) is a British businessman and philatelist who is a specialist in the stamps and postal history of Great Britain and a fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London.

Holyoake was awarded the Grand Prix for the best exhibit at the London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition for his display of The First Line Engraved Postage Stamps. In 2017 he was appointed to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists.

In 2021, Holyoake attempted to sell "The Wallace Document" at Sotheby's for over £6 million after paying around €25,000 for it eight years earlier in 2013 at David Feldman auctions (Lot 40078). The Wallace Document was an example of the Penny Black and Mulready Sheet given to postal reformer Robert Wallace as a souvenir. In pre-auction publicity Holyoake claimed the item was "A World Icon". Holyoake claimed the Penny Black stamp on the Wallace Document was printed as early as 10 April 1840 and as such, was "the very first stamp" and the "world's earliest dated Penny Black". Sotheby's auction catalogue repeated the claim that the item was "The Earliest Known Example of the 1840 Penny Black" (Lot 30). His own research published in The London Philatelist failed to substantiate his claims (Holyoake, Alan. 'The World's Earliest Known Postage Stamp and the Wallace Archive', The London Philatelist. Vol 125 Iss: 1435, May 2016, pp. 190–195). His claims were also not substantiated by the British Philatelic Association (BPA) and the Royal Philatelic Society of London (RPSL) expert committees. The Wallace Document attracted no bids and failed to sell at Sotheby's "Treasures" auction in London on 7 December 2021 (Sotheby's auction livestream at 1:57:30).

Selected publications

 * Great Britain: the development and use of the first issues. Collectors Club of New York, 2009. OCLC No. 785955712
 * Great Britain secured delivery of mail 1450-1862. The Great Britain Philatelic Society, 2012.