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A Galleon or Gold-Galleon (ʛ)[2] was the most valued coin of the wizarding currency used in Britain. One Galleon was equal to 17 Sickles or 493 Knuts. Galleons were made of gold.[1]

Around the edge of each Galleon was a series of numerals which represented a serial number referring to the goblin that cast the coin.[3]

History[]

Early history[]

"According to Madam Rabnott, Bragge brought a caged Snidget to the match and told the assembled players that he would award one hundred and fifty Galleons (equivalent to over a million Galleons today) to the player who caught it during the course of the game."
— History of the Galleon[src]

By the mid-thirteenth century, Galleons were already in circulation in wizarding Britain.[4]

In the 1260s, the Galleon had much more value than today: one Galleon at the time was equivalent to more than 6677ʛ today.[4]

Recent history[]

Galleon FrontBack

A Galleon Heads (right) and Tails (left)

By the 20th century, the Galleon was worth far less than in the thirteenth century.[4] In 2001, one Galleon was equivalent to five Muggle pounds ($7.34).[5][6]

Fake Galleons[]

Fake Galleons made of Leprechaun gold were common at Quidditch games, where Leprechauns were the mascots for the Irish National Quidditch team.[7][8][9] These Galleons were occasionally in temporary circulation (they vanished a few hours after appearing), but goblin experts at Gringotts could differentiate them from real ones.[10]

Rubeus Hagrid used Leprechaun gold fake Galleons at a 1995 Care of Magical Creatures class, while teaching students about Nifflers' ability to hunt for shiny objects like coins.[8]

Hermione Granger fabricated fake Galleons for members of Dumbledore's Army as a means of conveying clandestine communication about the time of future meetings.[3]

Ludo Bagman used Leprechaun gold to pay Fred and George Weasley after their bet resulting in them blackmailing Ludo with no luck. Bagman also paid several goblins with the same type of gold, but they caught on and made him suffer dearly.[9]

Ronald Weasley paid Harry Potter back for a pair of omnioculars with Leprechaun gold, without realising that it wasn't real.[7][8]

Exchange rates[]

1 Galleon
UK Pound 4.93
US Dollar 6.53
Euro 5.78
Chinese Yuan 41.60
Australian Dollar 9.16
Russian Ruble 483.28
Romanian Leu 28.62
Bulgarian Lev 11.31
Ukrainian Hryvnia 178.13
Japanese Yen 743
Canadian Dollar 8.44
Swiss Franc 6.02
Indonesian Rupiah 93278.68
Indian Rupee 495.53
Israeli New Sheqels 20.61
Brazilian Real 37.19
Mexican Peso 136.19
New Zealand Dollar 9.72
Swedish Krona 59.73
Argentine Peso 665.51
Danish Krone 42.99
Polish Złoty 26.90
Hong Kong Dollar 50.93
Vietnam Dong 149,759

See also[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • The glossary on the Scholastic official site incorrectly states that there is no exchange rate from the Galleon into Muggle currency, despite an exchange rate being mentioned several times, and the fact that Muggle money can be exchanged for wizard currency being established in the books.

Translations[]

NB: currency units are not capitalised in Greek, Icelandic, Norwegian, Romanian or Spanish.

  • Albanian: Galeone
  • Bulgarian: галеони (galeoni)
  • Catalan: galeó (pl. galeons)
  • Chinese (Simplified): 加隆
  • Chinese (Traditional): 加隆
  • Croatian: Galeon (plural Galeoni)
  • Czech: Galleony
  • Danish: Galleoner
  • Dutch: Galjoenen
  • Estonian: Galeoonid
  • Faroese: Gallónir
  • Finnish: Kaljuunat
  • French: Gallions
  • German: Galleonen
  • Greek, Modern: γαλέρες
  • Hebrew: אוניות
  • Hungarian: galleonok
  • Icelandic: galleonur
  • Irish: Gaileoin
  • Italian: galeoni
  • Japanese: ガリオン (Garion)
  • Latin: Gelleones
  • Latvian: Galeoni
  • Lithuanian: Galeonai
  • Low Saxon: Galleon (plural Galleonen)
  • Norwegian: galleoner
  • Polish: galeony (singular: galeon)
  • Portuguese: galeões (singular: galeão)
  • Romanian: galioni (literal)
  • Russian: галлеоны
  • Serbian: галеони (galeoni)
  • Slovak: galeóny
  • Slovenian: guldi
  • Spanish: galeón (pl. galeones)
  • Swedish: Galleoner
  • Ukrainian: ґалеон (galeon)
  • Welsh: Galiwn, plural Galiynau

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 5 (Diagon Alley)
  2. Pottermore
  3. 3.0 3.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 19 (The Lion and the Serpent)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Quidditch Through the Ages, Chapter 4 (The Arrival of the Golden Snitch)
  5. Currency Tables - Xe
  6. "About five pounds, though the exchange rate varies!" –J. K. Rowling on the value of a Galleon WEB LINK Comic Relief Live Chat, March 12, 2001
  7. 7.0 7.1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 8 (The Quidditch World Cup)
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 28 (The Madness of Mr Crouch)
  9. 9.0 9.1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 37 (The Beginning)
  10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 26 (Gringotts)
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