Galleons are fat gold coins used in the Wizarding World (PS5, HBP13), valued at approximately five British pounds (CR). The serial number identifying the Goblin who cast the coin is stamped around the edge (OP19). Coins of lesser denominations — silver Sickles and bronze Knuts — are also in circulation (PS5).

Harry had inherited a lot of galleons from his mother and father (PS5), a Potter ancestor having invented many useful potions including Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion, and added to his treasure when he inherited Sirius’ money as well (HBP3).

The Galleon was worth considerably more in the 13th century. When Barberus Bragge offered a 150 Galleon prize to the player who caught a snidget bird during a Quidditch match in 1269, the value of that prize is given as over a million Galleons in today’s currency:

1. Equivalent to over a million Galleons today. Whether Chief Bragge intended to pay or not is a moot point. (footnote in QA4)

That means that the value of one Galleon in 1269 is the equivalent of over 6666 Galleons today (US$48,333). At that rate, one Sickle would be worth 392 pounds (US$2842) and a Knut would be worth around 13.5 pounds (US$98). This obviously makes little sense in today’s terms, which suggests that the relative values (17 Sickles to the Galleon etc.) might not have held true 800 years ago.

While Galleons are described as fat and heavy, they are not as heavy as they would be were they actually solid gold, judging by the fact that a thousand of them in a bag was carried in a pocket (GF36). This could be a magical effect or that the actual gold content of a Galleon coin is considerably less than 100 percent.

NOTE: The current exchange rate for a Galleon can be found on the Lexicon’s home page. The Gringotts Goblins have taken the currency converter offline for now until they can get it working properly… and until the Ministry of Magic comes up with the Goblins’ 10,000 Galleon fee for doing the work.