Ske. 5) WEALTH 11 
Exchange of wealth, then, means the mutual and volun- 
tary transfer of wealth between two owners, each transfer being 
wn consideration of the other. If either of the two quanti- 
ties of wealth exchanged is divided by the other, the 
quotient is called the price of the latter. Thus, when three 
bushels of wheat are traded for two dollars of gold, the 
price of the wheat is 2 of a dollar per bushel, and the price 
of the gold is 1% bushels of wheat per dollar. In modern 
times, one of the two articles is usually money, but this 
condition is not essential, and in primitive times was not 
even common. When the exchange is one of money for 
other wealth, it is called a purchase (with reference to the 
one who parts with the money) and a sale (with reference 
to the person who receives the money). 
§ 5 
In order that there may be a price, it is not necessary 
that the exchange in question should actually take place. 
It may be only a contemplated exchange. A real estate 
agent often has an “asking price,” that is, a price at which 
he tries to sell, usually above the price of an actual sale. 
In the same way there is often a “bidding price,” which is 
usually below the price of actual sale. The price of sale 
thus generally lies between the prices first bid and asked. 
But it sometimes happens that the bidder refuses to raise 
his bid and the seller refuses to lower his asking price. 
In such a case no sale takes place and the only prices are 
those bid and asked. Trade journals report, for many 
commodities, the price of sale if there is a sale, otherwise 
the two prices bid and asked, or if both do not exist, the one 
which does. 
When there is no sale, and especially when there is no 
price bid or asked, it is not so easy to answer the question, 
What is the price? Recourse is then had to an “appraise- 
ment’ or appraisal, which is simply a more or less skilful