By the way, old_bloke. One more thing.
Firstly, the annual exempt amount for CGT is £9600 for the financial year 2008/09. As such, you would only be liable for CGT were you to make a profit of over £9600 on investments were you to sell your coins.
Furthermore, it would not be necessary for you to limit your purchase to 2008/09 minted coins to avoid CGT. If you were to buy coins that are classed as sterling (sovereigns and Britannias) then whatever profits you'd accrue would be exempt from CGT. In effect, you could buy a collection of Victorian sovereigns, and sell them for a profit greater than £9600 and still not be liable for the dreaded CGT.
As an aside, it's quite interesting how few people talk about investment silver bullion. But those who run the system would hate it for the masses to be aware of silver. If enough people were to hold silver, it could render the bankers' ponzi schemes redundant. Granted, when purchasing silver coins or bars one must pay 17.5 per cent VAT. So, one would need to see a rise of at least 17.5 per cent in the price of silver to break even when selling. Granted, the price of silver follows different fundamentals to that of gold. And granted, silver is more volatile than gold -- thus one should expect violent rises and falls in the silver market.
However, silver is a precious metal; it is a tangible commodity; it is affordable; it, and not gold, has historically been used as money in daily transactions; and it is no where near its historic high of $54 in 1980. Though the historic high of 1980 was actually a bubble caused by the Hunt brothers, for which the US government made them pay dearly.
It's possible that silver could be a very good investment in the long-term (20 - 50 years). I would expect to see a rise in the silver price coinciding with a future economic recovery, as silver is an industrial metal. As demand for consumer goods rises, so should the price of silver. This could mean that silver is currently overvalued, as we can expect consumer and industrial demand to fall further in the months ahead. However, this is not a given since silver could actually become a safe haven from inflation. The question is, are we due high inflation in the next few years? If so, then silver will likely perform well.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to buy even just one or two silver coins per month for the rest of one's life. After all, one can get a one ounce silver Philharmonic coin for little over 13 quid including VAT.
Finally, investing in gold and silver (particularly physical bullion) is unlikely to make you rich. Experienced investors typically invest in bullion to preserve wealth in inflationary periods, and not for profit. And, at the end of financial crises', he who holds the gold holds the power.
CAVEAT: The above words in no way should be constituted as financial advice. They are the opinions of an individual on the internet (who may not know what he is talking about), and should not be used as a basis for future investments. DO YOUR OWN DUE DILIGENCE.