Wizarding currency

**Wizarding currency** is the currency used by the wizarding world. Wizards are not averse to using currency with convoluted denominations, because they are easily able to solve complex calculations with magic. Wizarding currencies vary from country to country.

The wizarding currency of Great Britain consists of three different coins; in decreasing order of value, they are: Galleon, Sickle and Knut. They are gold, silver, and bronze, respectively. There are 17 Sickles in a Galleon, and 29 Knuts in a Sickle, meaning there are 493 Knuts to a Galleon. Around the edge of each coin is a series of numerals which represent a serial number belonging to the Goblin that cast the coin.

The wizarding currency in the United States of America consists of the Dragot and Sprink.

The wizarding currency of France is Bezant‎.

Aside from the Philosopher's Stone, which can convert any metal into pure gold, there is no known method of magically producing precious metals. Attempting to duplicate money with the Doubling Charm is ineffective, as the duplicates break down over time, and are considered worthless.

In ancient times, before modern forms of currency were invented, primitive wizards were known to trade in leaves of Niffler's Fancy — a plant whose leaves gleam like copper.

## Symbols

The three denominations of wizarding currency were sometimes represented with the following set of symbols:

* — Galleon
* — Sickle
* — Knut

## Exchange rate

 0.03448... Sickles
 0.002028... Galleons

## Fake Galleons

 File:Harry-potter-galleon.jpg
* Coins can be duplicated via the Doubling Charm, but these counterfeits will break down over time.

### Leprechaun Gold

* Galleons made of Leprechaun gold were common at Quidditch games where Leprechauns are the mascots for the Irish team. These Galleons are occasionally in temporary circulation (they vanish a few hours after appearing), but goblin experts at Gringotts can differentiate them from real ones.

* Rubeus Hagrid used Leprechaun gold in a Care of Magical Creatures class, while teaching students about Nifflers' ability to hunt for shiny objects such as coins.
* Ludo Bagman used Leprechaun gold to pay Fred and George after their bet, resulting in them blackmailing Ludo with no luck.

### 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). 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".

1. ↑ Template:WBP
2. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)* Template:See image