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[jya@pipeline.com (John Young)]

   7-2-96. FiTi: 
 
   "A Japanese engineer's box of tricks is helping detect 
   forged banknotes." 
 
      Counterfeit dollar bills are judged on a scale of one to 
      nine, with the crudest at level one. The detector 
      machines that existed before Matsumura's could only pick 
      out bills at around level five or six. Supernotes are 
      ranked between seven and nine and have been almost 
      impossible to detect. Matsumura says supernotes do have 
      flaws, though, and his machine can spot differences in 
      the printing by referring to a histogram, or statistical 
      graph, of patterns on real US notes. Each supernote 
      tends to have two or three minute aberrations. 
      Consequently, sensors check for any variations at 12 
      points on the note. A 0.9-second scan also monitors the 
      thickness of the paper and the printing ink. 
 
      The company can only produce 500 units a month, but 
      already has orders for 45,000. 
 
 
   http://pwp.usa.pipeline.com/~jya/tricks.txt  (4 kb) 
 
   TRI_cks