How much the money in Harry Potter is worth in real life
In case you wanted to know how much a butterbeer would cost
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Your support makes all the difference.With all the mention of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts, you may have wondered how much the currency featured in the world of Harry Potter would be worth in plain old muggle-land.
One perceptive Reddit user has done just that.
To work this out, they took the figures mentioned by J.K. Rowling in the book series and worked out the exchange rates between values; her findings are below:
17 Sickles = 1 Galleon
29 Knuts = 1 Sickle
...meaning that 493 Knuts = 1 Galleon.
While the Reddit user doesn't claim to be an accounting genius, they stated that they experimented with different values and came up with these as an approximation of wizarding money's value.
1 Galleon = $25 (£17)
1 Sickle = $1.50 (£1)
1 Knut = $.05 (3p)
With these figures in mind, here's what the user found:
Dobby wasn't as poor as we assumed
Not until Dumbledore increased his salary anyway. Preceding that, he was on 1 Galleon a week (£17) until the Hogwarts headmaster offered him ten times that amount. Consequently, the house elf's salary increased to a take home of £680 a month; considering he lived with his owners, we're assuming rent was off the cards (then again they were the Malfoys so perhaps not).
Be happy you don't have to take the Knight Bus to work
Sure, it might get you there faster but spending 11 Sickles (£11) every day would add up.
The Weasley's genuinely had no money
It's no secret that the Weasley's struggled but their situation seems far more dire upon reflection. We discover in Chamber of Secrets that their Gringotts vault consists of 1 Galleon and a couple of Sickles (that can't be more than £18). Add to this that Ron's Ford Anglia antics saw them fined 50 Galleons (£850), if anything, is father Arthur could have afforded to be far angrier.
The Triwizard Tournament prize was a bit ridiculous
17,000 Galleons (£17,000) retrospectively sounds a bit steep to us. Then again, when you consider the eventual victor defies death on multiple occasions, maybe that's what's deserved. Additionally, the fact Harry gives his winnings to Fred and George Weasley to aid them in opening their joke shop, you're provided with a sense of what a generous (and immensely well off) young lad Potter was.
Butterbeers are cheap
What you always hoped is true: if Butterbeers existed, they'd cost you a mere £3 (2 Sickles). Cheaper than Starbucks.
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