 Poor communications meant that many civilians of Zimbabwe were unable to convert old bearer cheques to new ones before the deadline.The 2006 bearer cheque series was put into circulation on 1 August 2006 and initially consisted of 14 denominations, ranging from 1¢ to $100 000.The cheques were signed by Dr. Gideon Gono and were set to expire on 31 July 2007, except for the $100 and $500 cheques, which were initially due to expire on 31 December 2007, but later extended to 31 July 2008.