Medallion - Sudbury "Numismatic Park" (Kennedy Half Dollar Memorial): nickel 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

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.