Patent ID: 8297507

Claim:
A system for automatically detecting the magnetic features of a bank note, the system comprising: a transport device capable of transporting a bank note along a defined path; a data processing device capable of executing stored program instructions; a data storage device operably coupled with the data processing device; and a first detector device operably coupled with the data processing device, the first detector device comprising a plurality of magnetoresistive sensors positioned proximate the transport device and oriented so as to enable detection of the magnetic features of the adjacent surface of the passing bank note; wherein the data processing device is capable of executing stored program instructions for detecting the magnetic features of a bank note, the program instructions comprising: repeatedly reading the output of the first detector device to capture the magnetic pattern data of the adjacent surface of the passing bank note; storing the captured magnetic pattern data in the data storage device; and making a determination regarding final processing of the bank note based upon the magnetic pattern data.