Wizarding currency

Currency in the wizarding world consists of three different coins. In decreasing order of value, they are: Galleon, Sickle and Knut. They are gold, silver, and bronze, respectively. According to Rubeus Hagrid, 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.

Money in itself is one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, meaning it cannot be created from nothing. Aside from the Philosopher's Stone which can convert other metals into gold there seems to be no other method of obtaining it. Attempting to duplicate money with the Geminio spell is also ineffective, as duplicates created from Geminio are worthless.

It is not known whether the same wizarding currency is used in the international wizarding community.

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!' .

This is consistent with the "textbooks" Rowling wrote for charity (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages), which states that US$250 million is equivalent to 34 million Galleons, which means that 1 Galleon ≈ US$7.35. US$7.35 was the same as about GB£5 at the time of publishing.

With this information, we can calculate the value of wizarding currency in Muggle money. The amounts below are approximate, and were accurate as of October 7th, 2009.

As of mid-2009 US $7.35 is approximately UK £4.41. It is unlikely though, 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.

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.

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 (April 5th, 2010) one gram of gold is worth €26,84 or £23,69 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 one is that a Galleon is not made from pure gold but rather has a gold core of 0.21 grams or less. 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.

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.


 * Ron Weasley paid back Harry Potter in Leprechaun gold for the Omnioculars in the Quidditch World Cup, not knowing that Leprechaun gold would disappear until Hagrid told him later.

Others

 * 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.

Names
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

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.

Diameters of coins
Compared to existing coinage in the United States, The Galleon is the same diameter as the U.S. Silver Eagle; the Silver Sickle is slightly larger than the 1/2 Dollar and the Bronze Knut is slightly larger than the nickel.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)

Notes and references
Währung in der Zaubererwelt Argent des sorciers