In round numbers, if a Pound Sterling was actually worth a pound of silver at current prices, a penny (meaning a measure of weight equal to 1/240th of a pound) would be worth about one Canadian or American dollar. A loaf of cheap bread therefore costs about 2 pennies weight of silver and a pint of beer, 5 pennies - which is pretty close to what they cost 100 years ago when a pound was worth a pound.