The Big Nickel was eventually built on the crest of the hill, three feet outside of Sudbury's city limits in Copper Cliff, which did not require a building permit.

In order 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.

One such medallion package, mailed out to purchasers in 1964 from Nickel Monument Development contained three coins and a descriptive project brochure.

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'.

After projecting the image, it was traced by Szilva and Cavallo over a period of two nights onto large, thick pieces of brown paper.

Szilva worked with Jim Nemis, whose company Noront Steel was contracted to engineer, fabricate and install the framework of the Big Nickel.

The large stainless steel panels were fabricated by Dalite Corporation of Toronto and shipped to the Big Nickel site in May 1964.

The artistic work such as the design of the King George VI head, the numerals, maple leaf and the refinery were contracted to Cavallo Signs.

Szilva was extremely pleased that John Fisher, the Canadian Centennial commissioner, had accepted his invitation to be on hand to unveil the Big Nickel Monument to a crowd of 1,500.

The day marked both the culmination of many months of planning, and the beginning of an era, which would see The Big Nickel develop into a world-renowned landmark, and Sudbury into a northern tourist centre.

In an attempt to market the park as a world-class tourist attraction, Szilva co-operated with the Sudbury Jaycees under president Allan Barnard in entering a float into the November 28, 1964 Grey Cup Parade with a replica of the monument along with the newly crowned 'Miss Big Nickel'.

Some of these features included helicopter rides, a train track around the park carrying 55 passengers, a carousel, the famous "jail", moon module, and informative film.

In March 1975, Szilva expanded on the idea of creating a world-class mining science centre and submitted his proposal to the provincial minister of tourism in Toronto and to the Regional Municipality of Sudbury.

According to documented proposals and files, Szilva continued his efforts, and in 1980 he convinced the Regional Municipality of Sudbury to proceed with the development of a major tourist attraction, as the government was willing to grant the funds to non-profit organizations.

Once refurbished, the coin was installed on the grounds of Science North, and the original Big Nickel site was redesigned into the Dynamic Earth facility.

[5] On May 10, 2003, the coin was moved back to a plain kickstand on the Dynamic Earth grounds, and the stones of the original pedestal were discarded.

[6] Szilva and his son Jim published The Big Nickel: The Untold Story, a book about the challenges he faced bringing the project to fruition, in 2014.