Patent ID: 7628326

Claim:
A currency processing device having an input receptacle adapted to receive a stack of bills to be processed and a transport mechanism adapted to transport bills, one at a time, from the input receptacle along a transport path to at least one output receptacle, the device comprising: a denominating sensor disposed along the transport path adapted to obtain denominating characteristic information from each of the bills; a memory adapted to store master denominating characteristic information and master authentication information; a first magnetic scanhead disposed along the transport path downstream from the denominating sensor, the first magnetic scanhead being adapted to create a first magnetic field for saturating the magnetization of an area on each of the bills; a second magnetic scanhead disposed along the transport path downstream from the first magnetic scanhead, the second magnetic scanhead being adapted to create a second magnetic field of variable intensity, the second magnetic field being of opposite polarity from the first magnetic field; and a controller being adapted to receive the denominating characteristic information from the denominating sensor, the controller being adapted to determine the denomination of each of the bills when the obtained denominating characteristic information favorably compares to the stored master denominating characteristic information, the controller being adapted to adjust the second magnetic field intensity based on the determined denomination of each of the bills.