Greater Sudbury, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
The Famous Big Nickel
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Le célèbre big nickel
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 8, 2024
1. The Famous Big Nickel / Le célèbre big nickel Marker
The Big Nickel is a replica of this commemorative 12-sided coin, designed by Stephen Trenka. The obverse features King George VI, who was the monarch at the time. The reverse features a stylized nickel refinery with one large smokestack. The smokestack on the coin is not Sudbury's superstack that was completed in 1972.
Weighing in at nearly 13,000 kilograms and 9 meters in diameter, the Big Nickel is roughly 64,607,747 times the size of its namesake!
Le Big Nickel est une réplique de cette pièce dodécagonale commémorative, dont le motif est l'œuvre de Stephen Trenka. L'avers présente l'effigie de Georges VI, qui régnait à l'époque. Le revers présente une affinerie de nickel stylisée, munie d'une grande cheminée. Il ne s’agit pas de la supercheminée de Sudbury, qui a été achevée in 1972.
Pesant près de 13 000 kilogrammes et mesurant neuf mètres en diamètre, le Big Nickel est approximativement 64 607 747 fois plus grand que la pièce qu’il commémore!
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Location. 46° 28.415′ N, 81° 2.026′ W. Marker is in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. It can be reached from Big Nickel Road (Regional Road 34) 0.4 kilometers north of Lorne Street (Regional Road 55). The marker is located beside the "Big Nickel," on the Dynamic Earth museum grounds. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 122 Big Nickel Road, Greater Sudbury ON P3C 5T7, Canada. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Northeastern Ontario and specifically in Northern Ontario. It is also in Central Canada. Globally, it is in North America, the Great North Woods, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony, the Viceroyalty of New France, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and Rupert’s Land.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Dr. Ted Szilva, O. Ont., LLD, D.O.M.
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 8, 2024
2. The Famous Big Nickel / Le célèbre big nickel Marker
Looking northwest from the “Big Nickel;” the marker overlooks the Dynamic Earth museum.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.
Also see . . .
1. Big Nickel (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: The Big Nickel is a replica of a 1951 Canadian nickel, located at the grounds of the Dynamic Earth science museum in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, and is the world's largest depiction of a coin.(Submitted on August 21, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
The idea for the Big Nickel began in 1963 when Ted Szilva, at the time a 28-year-old City of Sudbury fireman, read in the Sudbury Star of a contest, sponsored by the Sudbury Canada CentennialCommittee, asking Sudbury residents how the City should celebrate the upcoming Canadian Centennial.Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 8, 20243. The Famous Big Nickel / Le célèbre big nickel MarkerThe marker is located a few steps to the right of the "Big Nickel" - along the access walkway.
The 1951 design was chosen for the Big Nickel since it marked the bicentennial of the chemical isolation of nickel by the Swedish chemist Baron Axel Frederic Cronstedt. This metal, of course, played a large role in the establishment of Sudbury as a mining town.
Before 1751, the element now known as nickel played havoc with refiners. Thought to be an alloy of copper, this "Devil's Copper" could not be extracted with the technology of the time. Cronstedt, however, was able to prove that the trouble refiners faced was due to an unknown element which he named nickel.
Szilva ultimately chose the 1951 Canadian nickel to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the isolation of nickel as a metal, to show 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.
2. Big Nickel — Dynamic Earth Museum Sudbury, Ontario (Atlas Obscura).
Excerpt: Possibly the world's largest coin(Submitted on August 21, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)stands just outside of a Canadian science center.Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 8, 20244. The “Big Nickel” and the Dynamic Earth MuseumLooking northwest from the parking lot.
The brainchild of former Sudbury firefighter and now entrepreneur Ted Szilva and sculptor Bruno Cavallo, the Big Nickel stands on a hill and is meant to represent the efforts of Sudbury nickel miners. The massively iconic coin is an exact replica of the actual currency as it was designed in 1951. It was constructed in 1964 using a series of steel plates designed to weather the Ontario climes, all attached to an inner frame and welded together to make it look like one solid coin. The Nickel stands on a base that allows visitors to walk under and around the giant bit of spare change.
The huge coin has become something of a mascot for coin collectors and numismatists for whom the oversized currency stands as a symbol of their esoteric interests. When the Big Nickel celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2009, even more coins were brought out from the nearby science center’s collection making it an even more enticing mecca for coin collecting enthusiasts.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 6, 2025. It was originally submitted on August 21, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 257 times since then and 48 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 21, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
