Patent ID: 8824771

Claim:
A method for tracing bank notes, wherein bank notes are inserted into an automated teller machine (ATM) with deposit function and checked for authenticity, wherein a serial number of the bank note is detected and stored as text together with transaction data only if the banknote is suspected of being forged, comprising wherein: a serial number image for the bank notes is additionally detected that forms an image detail of the bank note in an area intended for the serial number of the bank note, only if the bank note is suspected of being forged; the serial number image detected is stored with the serial number and the transaction data; a comparison between the serial number of a banknote retrieved from the ATM that is suspected of being forged and the serial number stored as text is performed to determine if the bank note retrieved from the ATM is the same bank note from which serial number text was detected and obtained; and a comparison of the serial number image with the bank note retrieved from the ATM suspected of being forged is conducted if the serial number has not been completely identified based on the stored text of the serial number to determine if the bank note retrieved from the ATM is the same bank note from which the serial number image was detected and obtained.