Albert Barnes Commentary Mark 6:37

"But he answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred shillings` worth of bread, and give them to eat?" — Mark 6:37 (ASV)

Two hundred pennyworth of bread. About 27 dollars [or £6 sterling]. As the disciples had a common purse in which they carried their little property, consisting of the donations of their friends, and money to be given to the poor (Matthew 26:8–9; Luke 8:30), it is not improbable that they had, at this time, about this sum in their possession.

Philip—for it was he who asked the question (John 6:7)—asked, with a mixture of wonder and agitation, whether they should take all their little property and spend it on a single meal. And even if we should, he said, it would not be sufficient to satisfy such a multitude. It was implied in this, that in his view they could not provide for them if they wished to, and that it would be better to send them away than to attempt it.