Sudbury Big Nickel celebrations aim to break world records

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

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

The massive coin was the brain child of Ted Szilva, who ultimately chose the coin to commemorate where Sudburys 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 Sudburys 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 muralwill 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 involvebuilding a stack of coins into a tower in 30 seconds.

Dynamic Earth saidthat 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.