If you, like me, are also constantly engaged in an inner war between eating Chipotle and being able to afford groceries for this week, then you probs don't want any more #MoneyWoes. But that's too damn bad, because someone just figured out how much items in Harry Potter would cost in real American dollars — and let's just say I have a renewed and more fully understood sympathy for all of our favorite ginger clan. Reddit user aubieismyhomie, who probably would have excelled at Arithmancy, did some dirty work for us and figured out based on other calculations the approximate worth of Wizarding money in terms of Muggle money. In case you're planning a trip to Diagon Alley anytime soon, here's the exchange rate:
Galleon= ~$25
Sickles= ~$1.50
Knuts= $.05
Aubieismyhomie points out a few things that this implies, including just how bleak the Weasleys' situation is when they open up their Gringott's vault in the second book to what could be $75 in Muggle at the very most. Basically, nobody deserved to win that wizard jackpot more than they did, because YIKES.
To really put the whole thing into perspective, though, the redditor outlined just how much a few commonly mentioned or notorious items in the Harry Potter series would have cost in Muggle money. Be prepared to experience all of the confusion/panic that the Grangers must have felt escorting their young daughter through this economic nonsense the summer before their first year:
Harry Potter's Wand
At seven Galleons, Harry's wand actually clocks in around $175 — which is pretty damn cheap considering a smart phone replacement pretty much entails selling a kidney these days.
Fred and George's Weasley's Trick Wands
Ludo Bagman assessed them as worth five galleons each, which would be an impressive $125. GET MONEY GET PAIIIIDDDD.
A Ride On The Knight Bus
At 11 sickles, the Wizarding equivalent of your college's Drunk Bus only cost $16.50, which is pretty impressive considering how far it will go and how easy it is to (accidentally) summon.
A Butterbeer
At two Sickles, a butterbeer would have cost $3 each.
Dobby's Salary
Although Dumbledore initially offered him 10 Galleons a week (or $250), Dobby balked and requested one Galleon ($25) instead. And according to my terrible math, that's about enough to buy him 16 butterbeers, so #swag.
The Price On Harry's Head
In case you ever doubted that the people who wanted to murder your fave were rich AF, consider that they were offering 100,000 Galleons — a whopping 2.5 million dollars — for Undesirable No. 1.
To read the rest of redditor aubieismyhomie's assessment on Wizarding prices, check out the original post here. (And if anybody wants to fight a dragon and rob Gringott's with me this weekend, HMU.)
Images: Warner Bros; Giphy
