Wizard Currency

[Tim the Enchanter]

Like pirate ships?

A galleon is a specific design of ship, whereas a pirate ship merely describes the function of a ship, regardless of design. So anything from a galley to a galleon to a modern day motorboat can be a pirate ship.

But the stereotypical pirate ships we see in movies and cartoon are usually galleons with high and narrow fore and sterncastles.

Maybe all pirates were pirates...

Pirates generally are pirates, yes.

hmmm, I always think of the word gallon, but I'm pretty sure that it has nothing to do with that

That's actually not that far-fetched. Many old currencies described a measure of weight, usually of a precious metal. Though using a unit of volume is a bit of a stretch, one thing that might work is that the coin referred to how much gold was needed to buy a gallon of ale or something. I don't find this very plausible, though.

Here I think of like nuts and bolts, but could it be a play on words on JKR's part, like, it's small peanuts or however that phrase goes (like not worth much)?

Perhaps.

Haha, there is a possibitlity that sickles are well sickle shaped

Sort of like ancient Chinese knife money? That would be funny, but I doubt it.

And Galleons... well, I've always pictured them to be about the same size and shape as the Olympic gold medals used in the 1988 Calgary games. That's probably wildly inaccurate, but it's in the impression I got from the books.

I imagined Galleons to be about the same size and thickness as the two Pound or two Euro coins.

Now, what designs do you think would be on the coins?

Tim the Enchanter

[SingingWren]

Now, what designs do you think would be on the coins?

Huh. Interesting question. Somehow I don't think the Ministers of Magic would be quite important enough to make it onto a coin, especially if Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts were used in other places besides Great Britain. My best guess is that the coins would probably have images of famous wizard leaders, like Merlin, just like American bills have famous presidents and Canadian coins have the queen (you notice that Canada still uses a British monarch on most of its currency? Maybe our Prime Ministers are just too ugly ).

However, going on my knowledge of Canadian currency, we also have respectively the Maple Leaf, a beaver, a sailboat, a loon, and a polar bear, all indicative of some historic aspect or symbolic representation of our culture, so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to think that wizarding currency might have, say, magical creatures native to Britain, or perhaps wands crossing, or a famous landmark? Something that represents a key aspect of wizarding culture.

[OliveOil_Med]

Now that the issue of etymology is brought up, why do these coins have these names?

I actually had such a major RL Harry Potter moment the other day when I was at the video store and I saw a movie called Knut that had a picture of a baby polar bear on it! Upon further research, I found that the word was German for 'knot'. I wonder if that played into the name etymology at all.

Now, what designs do you think would be on the coins?

When I was thinking of ideas for currency in wizarding China, I actually had a lot of fun researching symbols associated with weath, such as the dragon tortoise, the money toad, and even the goldfish. Even colors play into drawing in wealth. It was amazing how much it is possible to obsess over on this topic.

[Maple_and_PheonixFeather]

A galleon is a specific design of ship, whereas a pirate ship merely describes the function of a ship, regardless of design. So anything from a galley to a galleon to a modern day motorboat can be a pirate ship.
But the stereotypical pirate ships we see in movies and cartoon are usually galleons with high and narrow fore and sterncastles.

Cool!

Maybe all pirates were pirates...

Pirates generally are pirates, yes.

*Face palm* Failllll (on my part)...
I meant maybe all pirates were wizards...

What they look like

Darn, I was going to say Merlin...
I like the idea of the creatures, like say a dragon on a galleon (somehow they just fit together in my mind), maybe like a Hippogriff on one (simply because Hippogriffs are cool)...
I was going to say a sphinx, but that is very very Egyptian...

I could almost see each coin having something to do with an element (yes, I am aware there are 4 )

[msk8]

Hmmm... In the U.S, we have state quarters and normal quarters, so we don't neccesairily have to have the same thing on every galleon, sickle, or knut. But I'd say we should at least keep one side the same. I like the idea of famous witches and wizards, (like Merlin) on one side, and then maybe dragons and unicorns and pheonixes on the other.

[Tim the Enchanter]

Do you think Gringotts would mint special commemorative coins every once and a while? For instance, there could be a special Galleon minted in 1998 commemorating Voldemort's defeat, possibly featuring Harry Potter's face on it.

Tim the Enchanter

[Maple_and_PheonixFeather]

Do you think Gringotts would mint special commemorative coins every once and a while? For instance, there could be a special Galleon minted in 1998 commemorating Voldemort's defeat, possibly featuring Harry Potter's face on it.
[/B][/I]

That would be super cool!! I don't see why not. We don't know much about the money, so you can probably do that no problem.

[AidaLuthien]

Do you think Gringotts would mint special commemorative coins every once and a while? For instance, there could be a special Galleon minted in 1998 commemorating Voldemort's defeat, possibly featuring Harry Potter's face on it.

Tim the Enchanter

The idea is quite amusing, though I doubt Harry would agree. If you're going for humor, then I'd suggest something that shifts, maybe showing Voldemort being killed.

But more realistically, while they might do something like that, I don't think Harry would like that. He might even insist on people like Snape and Dumbledore being honored instead.

[Karaley Dargen]

Do you think Gringotts would mint special commemorative coins every once and a while? For instance, there could be a special Galleon minted in 1998 commemorating Voldemort's defeat, possibly featuring Harry Potter's face on it.

Oooooh somehow I don't think so. Gringotts is run by Goblins, and they would be fuuuurious at Harry! Sure, he did defeat Voldemort, but he BROKE into Gringotts, and STOLE from them! And he didn't just steal from a vault, he took something Goblin-made (the sword, the tiara) and (in the case of the tiara) broke it. [I don't mean that he took those things from Gringotts, obviously, he just took them in general]

He escaped on their dragon – that must have been so hard to come by, and they must have spent decades getting it to that point through whatever means – and wrecked half the building. Didn't a goblin actually get killed in the process, too?

Goblins are so touchy about their rights and their property, and wizards being oppressive – I just can't see them minting a coin for Harry. They'd probably try to get him tried for impersonating someone, breaking and entering, theft, and a hundred things more.

[OliveOil_Med]

But it might also depend on how much power the goblins really have in terms of the running of the bank. We know because of Bill that there are humans who work at Gringotts. We also know from the books that wizards do think of themselves as superior to Beings and other magical creatures.

How much power do you think the goblins would have in the bank?