Wizarding Entire Currency

Wizarding currency was the currency used by the wizarding world. Wizards were not averse to using currency with convoluted denominations, because they were easily able to solve complex calculations with magic. Wizarding currencies varied from country to country.
==Overview==
The wizarding currency of Great Britain consisted of three different coins; in decreasing order of value, they were: Galleon, Sickle, and Knut. They were gold, silver, and bronze, respectively. There were 17 Sickles in a Galleon, and 29 Knuts in a Sickle, meaning there were 493 Knuts in a Galleon. Around the edge of each coin was a series of numerals which represented a serial number belonging to the Goblin that cast the coin.
Aside from the Philosopher's Stone, which could convert any metal into pure gold, there was no known method of magically producing precious metals. Attempting to duplicate money with the Doubling Charm was ineffective, as the duplicates would break down over time, and were considered worthless.
==Symbols==
The three denominations of wizarding currency were sometimes represented with the following set of symbols: 
*ʛ — Galleon
* — Sickle
* — Knut
==Exchange rate==
One Knut was 	One Sickle was 	One Galleon was
1 Knut 	29 Knuts 	493 Knuts
0.03448... Sickles 	1 Sickle 	17 Sickles
0.002028... Galleons	0.05882... Galleons	1 Galleon
==Fake currency==
Coins could be duplicated via the Doubling Charm, but the counterfeits would break down over time.
===Enchanted coins===
Hermione Granger fabricated fake Galleons for the members of Dumbledore's Army as a means of conveying clandestine communication about the time of future meetings. The coins are linked by a Protean Charm, allowing the other coins to mimic the change of one coin.
Draco Malfoy copied Hermione's idea of using enchanted coins to communicate with the Imperiused Madam Rosmerta during the 1996–1997 school year.
==Etymology==
Galleons were Spanish treasure ships often raided by pirates. "Sickle" is the ancient Greek term for the shekel, the currency of Judea, as rendered by William Tyndale in his translation of the Greek New Testament, (later the King James Bible). It has been proposed that the British shilling comes from the same word. Also translated as silverling. "Knut" or "Canute" is the name of an 11th-century King of England.
"Unum Galleon" written on the coins literally means "One Galleon". "Unum" may be used as Latin for "One".
==Behind the scenes==
*It was said by J.K. Rowling that goblins get Muggle money back into circulation in the event that Muggle-borns need to exchange pounds for Galleons.Accio Quote!
*In the films, the Galleon seems to be represented by the heraldic "fleam" symbol. In , however, the Galleon is represented by the , ʛ.
*In the films, wizarding money appears as fairly average-sized round coins, not that dissimilar from that used by Muggles.
*In the books, they are rarely particularly described beyond their metal, however there are several references to wizarding money and Muggle money appearing quite differently. Ron Weasley was struck by the seven sided shape of a Muggle 50 pence coin. A Muggle man described Galleons that a wizard had given him as "great gold coins the size of hubcaps ". While he was almost certainly exaggerating, it does indicate that Galleons are significantly larger than standard Muggle coinage. Knuts were described as being tiny. "Weird!...What a shape! This is money?" -Ron on a 50 pence piece "I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago." -Mr Roberts, a Muggle, on wizards attempting to pay him in their own currency
===Converted into other currencies===
According to J. K. Rowling, the approximate value of a Galleon is "About five Great British pounds, though the exchange rate varies!"Accio Quote!
This is consistent with the "textbooks" Rowling wrote for charity ( and ), which states that GB£174 million/US$250 million is equivalent to 34 million Galleons - "Widespread amusement is converted into large amounts of money (over 250 million dollars since they started in 1985 – which is the equivalent of over 174 million pounds or thirty-four million Galleons)." (or 34,000,872 Galleons, 14 Sickles, 7 Knuts to be exact- "Comic Relief has raised 174 million pounds since 1985 (thirty-four million, eight hundred and seventy-two Galleons, fourteen Sickles and seven Knuts)." ) and works out as approximately £5.12/$7.35 per Galleon, but does not match the wizarding prices printed on the backs of the books (£4.99 or 1 Galleon, 11 Sickles; and $3.99 or 14 Sickles, 3 Knuts for the original UK and US editions respectively).
With this information, we can calculate the value of wizarding currency in Muggle money.Precise for the time of Dumbledore's in-universe writing of the Forewords, some time before his death on 30 June 1997. Rowling herself said she wrote the books immediately after finishing (released on 8 July 2000), and the Comic Relief books were released on 12 March 2001, meaning the $250m/£174m/ʛ34m actually applies to this time. The amounts below are approximate, and were accurate as of December 5, 2010, though it is unlikely that the value of a Galleon scales with US currency. As the gold standard values of wizarding currencies are unknown, it is difficult to estimate a present-day conversion rate, and one would have to rely on Rowling's older approximations. However, direct calculation done with the US amounts leads to a slightly different US value - this has been posed as a simultaneous equation problem in math classes."Value of a Galleon" by Dr Joshua Sasmor
Estimation of Wizarding Currency into Muggle Money	Estimation of Wizarding Currency into Muggle Money	Estimation of Wizarding Currency into Muggle Money	Estimation of Wizarding Currency into Muggle Money
 	1 Galleon 	1 Sickle 	1 Knut
 	£4.93 	£0.29 	£0.01
 	$6.64 	$0.39 	$0.01
 	€5.58 	€0.33 	€0.01
 	₺25.98 	₺1.54 	₺0.05
 	₩7865.84 	₩462.47 	₩11.86
 	¥744.24 	¥44.12 	¥1.43
 	6.48 Fr. 	0.38 Fr. 	0.01 Fr.
 	₽390.86 	₽22.92 	₽0.60
 	$8.72 	$0.51 	$0.02
 	$8.43 	$0.50 	$0.02
 	R$21.64 	R$1.27 	R$0.04
 	41.55 kr. 	2.44 kr. 	0.08 kr.
 	R 91.14 	R 5.36 	R 0.18
 	₹ 428.61 	₹ 25.21 	₹ 0.87
 	৳493 	৳29 	৳1
 	$51.88 	$3.05 	$0.11
 	₱333.88 	₱19.64 	₱0.68
 	RM28.84 	RM1.70 	RM0.058
 	25.53 PLN 	1.51 PLN 	0.06 PLN
 	฿216.61 	฿12.74 	฿0.44
 	55.52 kr 	3.27 kr 	0.11 kr
 	666.58 RSD 	39.21 RSD 	1.35 RSD
 	₴190.18 	₴11.36 	₴0.40
 	₪22.55 	₪1.33 	₪0.05
 	$114.39 	$6.73 	$0.23
 	1 834 Ft 	108 Ft 	3 Ft
Note that the Galleon/Pound rate cited by Rowling is probably that offered by Gringotts and bears no relation to the precious-metal value of wizarding coins. The "gold coins the size of hubcaps" mentioned in reference to the Quidditch World Cup would be much larger than the British five-pound Quintuple Sovereign today sold for its bullion value of hundreds of pounds sterling (though this hubcap reference may have been an exaggeration). However, it is unclear whether the coins were Galleons, or the currency of some other Wizard community. Certainly, if the coins were indeed of such size, there could have been no talking about "handfuls" of them.250px|thumb|left|Harry Potter's money stored in Gringotts
It should be mentioned that Rowling's exchange rates between Galleons and Muggle currency are very far off from reality, assuming that Galleons are made from gold. At the time of this entry (July 15, 2014) one gramme of gold is worth €42.00 or £24.59 and using regular sized coins as a comparison (one 20 €-cent coin weighs 5.74g for example, 10p weigh 6.50g) would allow for an exchange rate in excess of 100-1 instead of the 5-1 that is accepted as canon. There are possible explanations for this, the most logical ones being that a Galleon is not made from pure gold but rather has a gold core of 0.21 grammes or less, or for that matter is only gold-coloured and not made of actual gold at all. Another reason, considering the sometimes mentioned logic of the wizarding world, is the way Galleons may possibly be created and equipped with safety measures such as charms that will not allow its owners to exchange them in the Muggle world outside official goblin establishments.Furthermore, the value of the coins presented by Rowling at the end of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is extremely unlikely as this would make the overall currency rate of all the coins extremely low indeed. For example, in the fifth book, Harry, Ron and Hermione all buy a Butterbeer each; the price for the three is six Sickles - so two Sickles each. Going by the currency approximations this would make a beer cost about 60p - British currency - which is of course ridiculously low (unless perhaps the Butterbeer is a sort of cheap non-alcoholic drink like soda pop, which would be plausible as it is regularly drunk by minors). Moreover, in the second book Molly Weasley is described to only take "one gold galleon" from her vault at Gringotts which is not much at all. Of course, it is common knowledge that the Weasleys are poor but they have never been described as starving and have always been able to buy the equipment they need with the little money they have, even if it is second hand. However, many people would just assume that everything was much cheaper in the wizarding world as they don't need to spend money on manufacturing but most of it does seem slightly ridiculous. A more appropriate value of the Galleon would be around £24.60 as this would be a rate that would fit with Britains present climate.
===Cost of items in books===
Item 	Decimal Galleons Cost	Cost 	Unit 	Unit of Measure	Book
Bounty on Sirius's Head 	10000.000 	10,000	Galleons	 	4
Price on Harry's Head 	10000.000 	10,000	Galleons	 	7
Triwizard Tournament Winnings 	1000.000 	1000 	Galleons	 	4
Reward for Azkaban Escapee Info 	1000.000 	1000 	Galleons	 	5
Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw	700.000 	700 	Galleons	 	3
Goblin-Made Armour 	500.000 	500 	Galleons	 	6
Firebolt 	300.000 	300 	Galleons	 	3
Acromantula Venom 	100.000 	100 	Galleons	pint 	6
Mr Weasley Fined for Flying Car 	50.000 	50 	Galleons	 	2
Dumbledore's Monthly Offer To Dobby 	40.000 	40 	Galleons	 	4
Fred/George Bet on Quidditch 	37.888 	37.89 	Galleons	 	4
Unicorn Horn 	21.000 	21 	Galleons	 	1
Venomous Tentacula Stolen Seeds 	20.000 	20 	Galleons	 	5
Fred/George Deflagration Deluxe 	20.000 	20 	Galleons	 	5
Skull in Borgin & Burkes 	16.000 	16 	Galleons	 	6
Baruffio's Brain Elixir 	12.000 	12 	Galleons	pint 	5
Apparition Lessons 	12.000 	12 	Galleons	 	6
Percy Bet His Girlfriend 	10.000 	10 	Galleons	 	3
Omnioculars 	10.000 	10 	Galleons	 	4
Venomous Tentacula Stolen Seeds 	10.000 	10 	Galleons	 	5
Fake Disguises 	10.000 	10 	Galleons	 	6
Slytherin's Locket 	10.000 	10 	Galleons	 	6
Unicorn Hairs 	10.000 	10 	Galleons	per hair 	6
Advanced Potion Making Book 	9.000 	9 	Galleons	 	6
Malfoy Bet Next Person Would Die 	5.000 	5 	Galleons	 	2
Ludo Buys Fred/George Fake Wand 	5.000 	5 	Galleons	 	4
Fred/George Blaze Box 	5.000 	5 	Galleons	 	5
Price for Catching a Mudblood 	5.000 	5 	Galleons	per person 	7
Dobby's Monthly Salary 	4.000 	4 	Galleons	 	4
Invisible Head Hat 	2.000 	2 	Galleons	 	5
Arthur Weasley Bet on Quidditch 	1.000 	1 	Galleons	 	4
Madam Puddifoot 2 Coffees Plus Tip 	1.000 	1 	Galleons	 	5
Dragon Liver 	1.000 	17 	Sickles 	ounce 	1
Fancy Quill 	0.886 	15.068	Sickles 	 	5
Pile of All Candy From Trolley 	0.661 	11.24 	Sickles 	 	1
Cost From Dursleys To Leaky Cauldron 	0.647 	11 	Sickles 	 	3
Canary Creams 	0.412 	7 	Sickles 	 	4
Knarl Quills 	0.353 	6 	Sickles 	 	5
Cost of Hot Chocolate 	0.118 	2 	Sickles 	 	3
Hot Water Bottle & Toothbrush 	0.118 	2 	Sickles 	 	3
Cost To Join S.P.E.W. 	0.118 	2 	Sickles 	 	4
Bottle of Butterbeer 	0.118 	2 	Sickles 	 	5
Black Beetle Eyes 	0.010 	5 	Knuts 	scoop 	1
Daily Prophet 	0.002 	1 	Knuts 	 	5
==Appearances==
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==Notes and references==
Category:Bronze Known Objects
Category:Gold Known Objects
Category:Silver Known Objects
Wizarding currency