Szilva submitted his idea of a Big Nickel, underground mine and mining museum. At the time he was told his idea wouldn't do anything good for Sudbury and they picked a police station instead.

Sudbury's Big Nickel turns 60 The dream of a then 28-year-old firefighter became Sudbury's iconic Big Nickel. Ian Campbell shares the story as the landmark turns 60.

On the drive into Sudbury, a nine-metre-high piece of pocket change appears on the horizon. Built in the 1960s, the Big Nickel is a symbol of the city’s past as a booming mining town.

Sudbury more than lives up to the phrase ‘go big or go home’. In more ways than one. The Big Nickel, one of the Ontario’s most recognized landmarks, is nine metres tall, weighs 13,000 ...

Perhaps no other city knows of that legacy quite as well as Sudbury, often known as the Big Nickel, after the giant sculpture of a five-cent piece that is one of the best-known tourist attractions.