Hey everyone,
Welcome to another instalment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, we’ll be discussing the history of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, as well as the magical
money that it uses to fuel the wizarding economy.
Gringotts was first founded in the late 15th century during the year of 1474 by a goblin
who went by the name—you guessed it—Gringott.
Little is known about the goblin Gringott and his formative years, or even how old he
was when he founded the bank that would become the safest place for valuables in the wizarding
world.
What we do know is that he is featured on his own Chocolate Frog Card, alongside the
likes of famous witches and wizards, such as Albus Dumbledore and Merlin.
In a small way, this signifies the incredible accomplishment Gringott achieved by creating
the first-ever bank for magical society.
The bank itself is located on the north side of the hidden locale, Diagon Alley, a street
magically concealed from Muggles and only visited by those who are part of the wizarding
world.
Accessible via the wizarding pub, the Leaky Cauldron, which sits upon the Muggle road
of Charing Cross Road, Gringotts is one of the most frequented magical establishments
within Central London.
This, of course, is due to the fact that Gringotts is the ONLY wizarding bank in Britain, meaning
that any witch or wizard who wishes to keep their gold or other valuables safe inside
a proper magical bank would need to travel to Britain and visit Gringotts to do so.
Of course, this is rather unbelievable to us Muggles, who seem to have a bank on every
other street corner, which is made clear by Harry’s reaction the first time Hagrid tells
him of Gringotts’ existence…
“‘Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts.
Wizards’ bank.
Have a sausage, they’re not bad cold – an’ I wouldn’ say no teh a bit o’ yer birthday
cake, neither.’
‘Wizards have banks?’
‘Just the one, Gringotts.
Run by goblins.’”
Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.
‘Goblins?’”
Well, perhaps, Harry was ACTUALLy more surprised by Hagrid’s mention of goblins…but I digress.
Immediately noticeable to anyone who steps foot into Diagon Alley, Gringotts is taller
than every other shop on the street, and has a brilliant white exterior with a set of bronze
outer doors, all of which Harry admires as he approaches the bank for the first time.
“‘Gringotts,’ said Hagrid.
They had reached a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops.
Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was
– ‘Yeah, that’s a goblin,’ said Hagrid
quietly as they walked up the white stone steps towards him.”
Then, just inside the bronze exterior doors is a second set of inner doors, silver in
material and colour, with the following words of warning engraved upon them:
“Enter, stranger, but take heed Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn, Must pay most dearly in their turn,
So if you seek beneath our floors A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware Of finding more than treasure there.”
Through these silver doors, and upon actually entering the inner hall of the building, visitors
are met by a large space made entirely of marble.
Behind one long counter, there are more than 100 high-top stools made for the goblins who
work there to sit upon and deal with the bank’s patrons, and leading off the marble hall are
“too many doors to count”.
Presumably since its opening, Gringotts has been run by goblins.
However, it would seem that not long after it opened its doors, the Ministry of Magic
assumed management of the bank.
The exact date of this takeover is unknown but in the centuries that followed it is one
of the many controversies that have fueled the conflict between goblins and wizard-kind.
Despite the Ministry having a hand in running Gringotts, and witches and wizards being the
primary clientele of the bank, goblins do continue to run the establishment in a way
that no other species can.
Aside from the fact that goblins have an innate ability to understand finances and the economy,
they are also able to wield wandless magic that is beyond the grasp of witches and wizards.
It is through this specific brand of magic that goblins are able to keep the valuables
that have been deposited in Gringotts safe.
For example, while some vaults use tiny golden keys to access their contents, such as Harry’s
vault, there are other, more secure vaults that require the magical touch of a goblin
who is employed by the bank in order to open their doors.
This is the case with both Bellatrix Lestrange’s vault, which Harry, Ron and Hermione access
with the help of the goblin Griphook in 1998, and Albus Dumbledore’s vault, 713, which
Hagrid retrieves the Philosopher’s Stone from in 1991—once again alongside the goblin
Griphook.
“‘Stand back,’ said Griphook importantly.
He stoked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.
‘If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they’d be sucked through the door
and trapped in there,’ said Griphook.
‘How often do you check to see if anyone’s inside?’
Harry asked.
‘About once every ten years,’ said Griphook, with a rather nasty grin.”
To access any of these vaults with Gringotts, one must first descend underground, as the
majority of the bank actually sprawls deep below the city of London.
Upon leaving the marbled entrance hall, patrons of the bank find themselves in a maze of cavernous
tunnels lit only by torches, and which carry on for miles.
Navigation through the steeply descending tunnels is done via small, mine-like carts
that only Gringotts goblins are able to operate, and which can only go at “one speed”.
The deeper down you go, the more highly secure the vaults become.
Alongside an underground lake and ravine, there are also incredibly powerful enchantments
used to prevent thieves from successfully robbing the bank.
From what little we know, some of these spells and enchantments include the Thief's Downfall,
which is a waterfall that descends upon any number of paths that the mine-like carts travel
and effectively washes away all magic from whomever is occupying the cart.
Some of the higher security vaults also use magical defences such as the Gemino and Flagrante
Curses, which, when placed on an item of value, burns to the touch and then multiplies, making
worthless copies of the item.
These magical defences are just some of the presumed enchantments placed on the vaults
and within the maze of tunnels meant to deter people from trying to rob Gringotts, which
is further explained by Hagrid to Harry back in 1991 before they visited the bank for the
first time.
“‘Yeah – so yeh’d be mad ter try an’ rob it, I’ll tell yeh that.
Never mess with goblins, Harry.
Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe – ‘cept
maybe Hogwarts…’
… ‘Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?’
Harry asked.
‘Spells – enchantments,’ said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke.
‘They say there’s a dragon guardin’ the high-security vaults.
And then yeh gotta find yer way – Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see.
Deep under the Underground.
Yeh’d die of hunger trying’ ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on
summat.’”
Oh yes, and there’s also a dragon!
While for many, the dragon guarding the deep vaults of Gringotts is only a myth, Harry,
Ron and Hermione discovered for certain that it was incredibly real when they broke into
Gringotts in 1998…
“A gigantic dragon was tethered to the ground in front of them, barring access to four or
five of the deepest vaults in the place.
The beast’s scales had turned pale and flaky during its long incarceration under the ground;
its eyes were milkily pink: both rear legs bore heavy cuffs from which chains led to
enormous pegs driven deep into the rocky floor.
Its great, spiked wings, folded close to its body, would have filled the chamber if it
spread them, and when it turned its ugly head towards them, it roared with a noise that
made the rock tremble, opened its mouth and spat a jet of fire that sent them running
back up the passageway.”
This dragon is then used by the trio to escape from Gringotts, making their adventure into
the bowels of the bank one of the only known successful breaches in its entire history.
Aside from this one incident, however, Gringotts has been the premier establishment for magical
society to keep their valuables safe since the 15th century, housing everything from
gold to jewels, treasure, and even rare magical artefacts like the Philosopher’s Stone.
And while us Muggles are acutely aware of jewels and treasure, the gold I’m referring
to here is not of the Muggle variety.
Although, I’m sure some witches and wizards do in fact choose to house bars of gold and
other items made of pure gold in their vaults.
But, no.
The gold I’m referring to, of course, is the gold Galleon—the most valuable currency
in magical society—at least in Britain.
Cast by goblins, each Galleon has a series of numbers around its edges to represent the
goblin who made it.
Presumably this process of creating a Galleon is done exclusively by Gringotts goblins,
as the “heads” side of the coin is stamped with the words “Gringotts Bank”.
On the same side of this golden piece of currency is also the head of a wizard, with the flip
side of the coin, known as the “tails” side, showcasing a dragon and the words "Unum
Galleon".
"Unum" is Latin and may be interpreted as “one”, meaning the gold coins are imprinted
with the words “one Galleon”.
It’s believed that the first batch of Galleons were cast sometime in the 1200s, as by the
middle of the 13th century they were in circulation throughout the wizarding community in Britain.
At this point in time, it’s unclear whether or not the lesser value coins of modern times
existed yet.
Today, however, there are three different types of British currency within the wizarding
world, including the gold Galleon.
In addition to the Galleon, there is also the silver Sickle and the bronze Knut.
The value of each of these coins are: “Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine
Knuts to a Sickle…”
Similarly to the Galleon, the Sickle and the Knut are both cast by Gringotts goblins and
have serial numbers imprinted along their edges to signify the goblin who made them.
And, as you may have guessed, similarly to the Muggle world, the wizarding world also
has various currencies across the globe.
In America, they use the Dragot and in France it’s believed that the currency used by
witches and wizards is the Bezant‎.
While the general history of the French Bezant and when exactly it went into circulation
is unknown, the American Dragot is said to have been in use in the United States since
at least the 1700s.
There is also the possibility that the Dragot has a lesser value subunit called the Sprink.
For those of you who may be wondering what the conversion rate is between Muggle money
and wizarding money, you’re not alone.
There are entire websites dedicated to this exact thing.
I’ve taken a deep dive into some of these, and last I checked 1 Galleon was the equivalent
of 5 British Pounds!
Of course, since there are a many number of Muggle-born witches and wizards across the
globe, there is a rather large population within the wizarding world which requires
currency-exchange services.
As such, Gringotts is one of the only known places in the entire world where Muggle-borns
can exchange their money for Galleons, Sickles and Knuts.
We even see this exchange process about to happen in 1992, when the Weasley family encounters
Hermione Granger and her Muggle parents on their way to exchange their British Pounds
for wizarding currency…
"'But you’re Muggles!' said Mr. Weasley delightedly.
'We must have a drink!
What’s that you’ve got there?
Oh, you’re changing Muggle money.
Molly, look!'
He pointed excitedly at the ten-pound notes in Mr. Granger’s hand."
Presumably, if the bank is willing to exchange British Pounds, then they likely also accept
other foreign Muggle currency, as well as foreign magical money.
Although, it hardly seems fair that a Muggle-born student attending Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry in the United States would need to come all the way over to London in order
to exchange their American Dollars to Dragots…hopefully, the staff at Ilvermorny has some sort of unofficial
banking exchange system in place for those students!
In any case, currency that is brought to Gringotts that is not Galleons, Sickles or Knuts is
believed to be dealt with by the goblins who work at the bank.
As these goblins are responsible for casting and keeping the primary currency of the British
wizarding world, it seems rather unlikely that they would then keep Muggle money and
other foreign currency on hand—as they wouldn’t want it to compete with their own coins.
It’s therefore likely that Gringotts and its goblins have a process for reintegrating
these currencies back into circulation within their various economies.
Since both Muggle money and foreign magical currency holds value, they obviously wouldn’t
just throw it away.
All together more likely, at least to me, is the idea that perhaps goblins laundered
British Pounds, American Dollars and other Muggle currencies back out into Muggle communities
by way of fronts.
As for the magical monies from other countries, they probably just send that back by way of
some form of goblin magic.
As with Muggle money, there are also instances of counterfeit magical currency.
The most common example of counterfeit wizard money is Leprechaun Gold.
These coins are said to be made by leprechauns and are commonly found among gamblers, specifically
at Quidditch matches.
Although they closely resemble real gold Galleons, and sometimes make their way into circulations
within the wizarding economy, they are distinctly different in a number of ways.
For one, Leprechaun Gold will vanish after only a few hours.
These coins can also be duplicated, whereas real Galleons cannot be.
That said, even if Leprechaun Gold made its way to Gringotts and lasted long enough for
a goblin to inspect it, the employees of the bank are easily able to tell them apart from
the real thing as seen by Harry, Ron and Hermione during their 1998 break-in.
“The long counter was manned by goblins sitting on high stools, serving the first
customers of the day.
Hermione, Ron and Travers headed towards an old goblin who was examining a thick gold
coin through an eyeglass.
Hermione allowed Travers to step ahead of her on the pretext of explaining features
of the hall to Ron.
The goblin tossed the coin he was holding aside, said to nobody in particular, ‘Leprechaun,’
and then greeted Travers, who passed over a tiny golden key, which was examined and
given back to him.”
And, with that, we’ve come to the end of another video!
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Until next time…remember…
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”