Record-breaking penny effort is postponed

A plan to build a world-record-breaking mural out of 2.7 million pennies, which was scheduled for Sunday at the Costa Mesa swap meet, has been postponed indefinitely.

The Costa Mesa man who was going to lead the effort, Doug Bader, canceled the project because of a family emergency. He had to fly to Seattle immediately to give blood to his sister with leukemia, he said.

With the help of volunteers, Bader expected to make the penny mural out of enough coins to outdo the previous record holder: a silhouette of John Lennon constructed in Japan in 2004 that used 2.5 million Yen coins worth about $26,700.

Bader commissioned local kids to do chores around their houses to make money that could be turned into pennies and used to create a giant image of a girl surrounded by his company logo and a couple of other logos.

After it was built, the mural was going to be taken apart and the $27,000 worth of change used to buy earthquake-preparedness kits to distribute in Costa Mesa neighborhoods.

Bader is trying to reschedule the event but says he is still recuperating from giving so much blood.

— Alan Blank