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harry potter - Would Gringotts convert Wizard money to Muggle money?


The books make it clear that they offer the reverse service (see the following question: What Do the Gringotts Goblins Do With Muggle Money?).


According to the canonical answer to that question,




Q: When people trade in Muggle money for Wizard money, what does Gringotts do with the Muggle money?


JKR: Those goblins are sneaky people. They manage to put the Muggle money back into circulation. They are like "fences" --British slang, do you understand it? (src: America Online chat with JKR transcript, AOL.com, 19 October 2000)



The answer also makes reference to a comment by Dharini Chandrasekaran:



Just speculation, but squibs who go out into the muggle world to work will need Muggle money and also wizards might need it while doing Muggle studies research or trying to remain under cover, so I guess they keep it for reverse exchange.



This seems entirely reasonable speculation. Nevertheless, I don't recall any example in the books of converting Galleons to British pounds or other forms of Muggle currency. Does anyone have a more canonical source than speculation that indicates that this happens?


At one point in the books, Harry seems to overlook or ignore the possibility:




Stored in an underground vault at Gringotts in London was a small fortune that his parents had left him. Of course, it was only in the wizarding world that he had money; you couldn’t use Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts in Muggle shops. He had never mentioned his Gringotts bank account to the Dursleys; he didn’t think their horror of anything connected with magic would stretch to a large pile of gold. (CoS, Ch4, "At Flourish and Blotts"*)



(This passage was brought to my attention by DVK's answer here: Why didn't Harry Potter tell Aunt Petunia he was rich to improve how he was treated by Dursleys?)


But maybe he's just worried that if he converts some gold to Muggle money and tries to spend it, it will look suspicious if either Muggle authorities or the Dursleys find out.


Economically, I can't see any reason why they wouldn't offer this service. Galleons clearly have value, so the goblins should have no problem accepting them. They get some Muggle money from exchanges, and they seem resourceful enough to be able to obtain it in other ways if need be.


Converting wealth in the Wizarding world to wealth in the Muggle world is also the subject of the following question: Rich Wizards, Poor Muggles. However, I don't see an answer to my question there. One issue brought up is inflation of Muggle currencies, but as long as the goblins aren't printing Muggle money, I don't see why this would be a problem. There is also speculation that the Ministry of Magic doesn't want wizards to become suspiciously wealthy in the Muggle world.


Even if those answers are right, however, that doesn't answer my question. Gringotts could just restrict the amount of money that it will convert for a single person in a certain amount of time.


(In case it wasn't clear enough in previous versions of this question: I think that they do, but I wanted an answer that relies on more than speculation. Evidence could come from the books, direct or indirect, or from outside sources like author interviews, stuff like that. Economics in Harry Potter doesn't always seem to work the way I'd expect it to based purely on logic.)



Answer



Seems like they would. There are a couple of examples that leap out at me of wizards using Muggle money.



First, there's Mr Weasley at the Quidditch World Cup.



'You'll be paying now, then?' said Mr Roberts.


'Ah - right - certainly -' said Mr Weasley. He retreated a short distance from the cottage and beckoned Harry towards him. 'Help me, Harry,' he muttered, pulling a roll of Muggle money from his pocket and starting to peel the notes apart.


'This one's a - a - a ten? Ah yes, I see the little number on it now ... so this is a five?'


Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - p.71 - Bloomsbury - Chapter 7, Bagman and Crouch



Hard to see where he'd have got it from if not from the only wizarding bank. There's no mention of Harry giving it to him, or doing some kind of exchange and that would seem unfair on Harry - to expect him to come up with cash - and I would've thought Harry would've talked Mr Weasley through it - or held onto the money and just handled the payment himself, if it was his. Also, where would Harry have got the Muggle currency? Hermione could have given it to him, but, again, I would doubt it.


Another, more tenuous one is Archie, the wizard wearing the long flowery night-gown:




'I bought this in a Muggle shop,' said the old wizard stubbornly. 'Muggles wear them.'


Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - p.77 - Bloomsbury - Chapter 7, Bagman and Crouch



Given he says 'bought', money must have changed hands. Archie could have Confunded the cashier, I suppose, and handed over wizarding money - but that would surely be frowned upon by the Ministry of Magic. Might be a bit suspicious of wizards are routinely putting their currency into the Muggle world - not quite living up to the spirit of the Statute of Secrecy is it? And it's clear Archie doesn't have any Muggle blood in him, since he doesn't realise that a flowery night-gown is not suitable Muggle clothing for a man.


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