Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts

[uncmark]

No: HPFGUIDX 35010

In Book 1, Hagrid explains Wizard Money to Harry as follows, "The 
gold ones are Galleons. Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and 
twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough." 

JKR has stated that she estimates the value of one Galleon to 
be "about five pounds." According to the Harry Potter Lexixon, a gold 
Galleon works out to US $7.33, a silver Sickle to around 43 cents and 
a Knut about a penny.

I can accept a bronze penny and a silver 43-cent coin (probably 
silver clad or colored like a quarter or half-dollar) but a gold coin 
worth $7? At present a 1/10 oz gold coin, barely the size of a nickel 
sells for $45. Is a Galleon the size of a dime? Or is it gold clad 
like the Sacajawea dollar?

Galleons would have to be worth more if only for the fact that in 
Chamber of Secrets the Weasleys buy the entire school supplies for 4 
students for "a very small pile of sickles and just one gold galleon."

Opinions?

Uncmark

[Mod Note: The HP Lexicon has a page devoted to wizarding money --
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/money.html
--John, technoMod]