Medallion - Sudbury "Numismatic Park" Kennedy Half Dollar Memorial ND

Reverse

Lighted memorial torch surrounded by a fence, 14 stars above, text below

Script: Latin

Lettering:
AND SO LET THE WORD
GO FORTH THAT THE TORCH
HAS BEEN LIT
JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY 1917•1963

Engraver: Wellings Mint

Edge

Plain

Comment

The Big Nickel celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2009. The idea belongs to Ted Szilva. He suggested a coin park as a Centennial project when Canada celebrated its 100th birthday. The idea didn’t receive official sanction or support. Szilva and a handful of volunteers worked to raise the money for the project. (Szilva recently received an honorary degree from Laurentian University.) The Canadian Centennial Numismatic Park, which was located where Dynamic Earth is today, originally featured a Big Penny, an American silver John F. Kennedy 50-cent piece, and other giant coins such as the $20 gold coin. The Big Nickel is the 1951 Canadian nickel, which was minted to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the isolation of nickel as a metal, as well as to show the source of Sudbury’s wealth. The park was officially opened on July 27, 1964. The opening was attended by a crowd of 1,500 families, friends, dignitaries and residents. Only the Big Nickel survives. What happened to the other coins remains a mystery.
http://www.sudburylivingmagazine.com/2010/07/06/wheres-the-big-penny.html

http://www.sudburylivingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/penny.jpg
To raise the money for the development of the project, Szilva had a series of commemorative coins struck which represented each of the monuments to be erected at the park. To have worldwide appeal, he conceived the idea for a numismatic park and called it the Canadian Centennial Numismatic Park. The Big Nickel would be its centrepiece. The uniqueness of this park appealed to the numismatists worldwide, who purchased the medallions to support the construction and development of the park.
One such medallion package, mailed out to purchasers in 1964 from Nickel Monument Development contained three coins and a descriptive project brochure. Two of the coins were identical silver-dollar-sized .999 silver content Kennedy commemorative coins. The third was a silver dollar sized copper-coloured Kennedy commemorative coin. All three coins were identically marked on the obverse with a Kennedy profile above the words 'In God We Trust, 1964' surrounded by 'Canadian Centennial Numismatic Park, Sudbury, Canada'. On the reverse, each was marked with an eternal flame above the words 'And so let the word go forth that the torch has been lit,' and the words 'John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1917.1963'. The brochure discussed the medallions, the park (Canada's Most Unique Tourist Attraction—Canadian Centennial Numismatic Park'), other fundraising ideas, and planned future attractions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Nickel#Fund_raising