Wizard Money
There are three basic types of coins in the wizarding world:
- gold Galleon
- silver Sickle
- bronze Knut
The
actual values of these coins are a bit complicated for Muggles to figure
out without a calculator. It's easy for Wizards, however. Hagrid states:
"The gold ones are Galleons. Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and
twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough." Therefore 1 Galleon =
17 Sickles = 493 Knuts.
Well, even if you can do the math quickly in your head when you need to make change, it's still not easy. The values of the coins don't always seem to make sense. After all, you can buy a large quantity of sweets from the cart on the Hogwarts Express for eleven Sickles, about two-thirds of one Galleon. So is that all that the Weasleys had in their vault? The price of a pile of candy? And with that they bought books and school gear for all those kids? It just doesn't quite work out.
JKR has stated in an interview (CR) that she estimates the value of one Galleon to be "about five pounds," which works out to more or less US$7.33. In the introduction to both QA and FB, US$250-million is stated to be the equivelent of 34 million Galleons. That also works out to a value of £5 to the Galleon. (The price listed on the back of the books, however, is not correct, since US$3.99 would equal a little more than half of a British pound, or 8 sickles and 15 knuts. The book instead incorrectly lists US$3.99 as being equal to 14 sickles and 3 knuts. Unfortunately, CNN.com uses this incorrect value for their Knuts-to-dollars converter.)
This gives us approximate values as follows:
- 1 bronze Knut = £0.01
- 1 silver Sickle = £0.29 (about US$0.43)
- 1 Galleon = £5.00 (more or less US$7.33)
While Wizard money seems to be made from actual precious metals, it also seems to have some sort of magic in it which makes it lighter than normal. Harry handled a bag containing one thousand Galleons--the prize money from the Triwizard Tournament--as if it were nothing, but a thousand coins made out of gold, even fairly small ones, would weigh a considerable amount indeed, far more than anyone would be able to toss around in a cloth bag. This magic is perhaps an effect similar to Wizard Space.
prices:
(prices
in $US from Natalie)
new wand from
Ollivanders (SS5)
.....7 Galleons
($51.31)
dragon liver
(SS5)
.....17 Sickles
per ounce ($7.31)
prize from
Daily Prophet drawing (PA1)
.....700 Galleons
($5,131.00)
prize for winning
the Triwizard Tournament (GF
.....1000
Galleons ($7,330.00)
Firebolt racing
broom
.....if you
have to ask, you can't afford it
amount Hermione
had set aside to buy herself a birthday present
.....10 Galleons
($73.30)
unicorn horn
(SS5)
.....21 Galleons
($153.93)
beetle's eyes
(SS5)
..... 5 Knuts
per scoop ($0.08)
pile of candy
from the cart on the Hogwarts Express
.....11 Sickles,
7 Knuts ($4.84)
Omnioculars
(GF7)
.....10 Galleons
($73.30)
amount Arthur
Weasley bets on the World Quidditch Cup match
.....1 Galleon
($7.33)
amount Fred
and George bet (their whole savings)
.....37 Glns,
15 Skls, 3 Knts ($282.59)
amount Ludo
said he'd pay for a rubber chicken wand
.....5 Galleons
($36.65)
copy of the
Daily Prophet (SS5)
.....5 Knuts
($0.08)
fare on the
Knight Bus from Little Winging to London (PA3)
.....11 Sickles
($4.73)
price of hot
chocolate on the Knight Bus (PA3)
.....2 Sickles
($0.86)
price of a
hot water bottle and toothbrush in the color of your choice (PA3)
.....2 Sickles
($0.86)
see also: Gringotts
