METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

摘要

A currency evaluation device for receiving a currency bill having a magnetic attribute and evaluating the currency bill comprises a magnetic scanhead disposed adjacent to a bill evaluation region, a memory adapted to store master magnetic characteristic information corresponding to a plurality of types of currency bills, and an evaluating unit. The scanhead includes a plurality of closely spaced magnetic sensors each adapted to detect the presence of a magnetic attribute of the bill. The plurality of magnetic sensors cover a substantial portion of a dimension of a bill. The scanhead is adapted to retrieve magnetic characteristic information from the currency bill. The evaluating unit is adapted to evaluate the currency bill by comparing the retrieved magnetic characteristic information to the stored master magnetic characteristic information and to generate an error signal when the retrieved magnetic characteristic information does not favorably compare to the stored master magnetic characteristic information.