Other Harry Potter Toys

In the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling, a fictional system of currency is used by the wizards of the United Kingdom. It is based on three types of coin. In order of decreasing value, they are: the gold Galleon, the silver Sickle, and the bronze Knut. more...

Wizarding banks provide moneychanging services for those with Muggle (ordinary) cash.

According to the character Hagrid in the first novel, this system is "easy enough" to understand, although it is based on rather peculiar proportions. In keeping with the author's tendency to use satire in her books, wizarding currency is almost certainly a parody of the British monetary system before it was decimalised.

Estimates of worth

J.K. Rowling has stated in an interview with Comic Relief that a Galleon is worth "about five pounds." However, it is likely that the author has not thought this out in detail, or that the significantly different social structure (including the apparent lack of mass production) of wizardkind may mean significantly different prices for the similar items in the Muggle and wizarding worlds. The value of wizard money might vary greatly depending on the source used.

Low-value theory

In the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, two pieces of information are given which hint at how much wizards' currency is worth in comparison to real-world money. Firstly, it is said that £174 million raised for charity is equivalent to 34,000,872 Galleons, 14 Sickles, and 7 Knuts (the figure is simplified to 34,000,000 galleons in Quidditch Through the Ages). It is also stated that the book costs £2.50, or 14 Sickles and 3 Knuts.

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