Sudbury Big Nickel celebrations aim to break world records

A Guinness World Record adjudicator will be in Sudbury this week to oversee two attempts to break two records as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of The Big Nickel.

The Big Nickel is a 30 foot replica of a 1951 Canadian nickel, located at the grounds of Dynamic Earth in Sudbury, Ont. The twelve-sided nickel is located on a small hill overlooking the intersection of Municipal Road 55 and Big Nickel Drive.

The massive coin was the brain child of Ted Szilva, who ultimately chose the coin to commemorate where Sudbury’s wealth came from, and to be a lasting tribute to the men and women who mined and processed the minerals in the Sudbury Basin. The nickel was intended to exhibit Sudbury’s pride to the whole world.

Now, 50 years later, the larger-than-life nickel will be celebrated with a couple of other big events.

A giant mural will be officially adjudicated by Guinness World Record judges on Tuesday at 2 p.m. 

According to Dynamic Earth, the current record is 69 square meters, and was created by BNP Paribas Cardif in El Calafate, Argentina.

The second event will involve building a stack of coins into a tower in 30 seconds.

Dynamic Earth said that record currently stands at 51 coins and was set by Stephen Kish in Portsmouth, United Kingdom.

The coin stacking event is open to the public and will take place Tuesday, July 22 between noon and 2 p.m. and again from 3 and 4 p.m.

For more information, contact Science North or Dynamic Earth.