Was the painting the 2 friends bought worth 12 million dollars or pennies? If it was pennies, the painting would be worth only $120,000, making it less expensive.
i realize now that the currency of the land (whatever place they live) is unspecified. you'd have to infer from the street lines and signs, and/or the architecture, which country it is. given that, i'd assume that when people say "12 million" they are talking about dollars