EP1506534A2

EP1506534A2 - Examination and demonetization system for value markers

Info

Publication number: EP1506534A2
Application number: EP03729982A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Reinhard Plaschka; Peter Schiffmann; Georg Depta; Karlheinz Mayer
Original assignee: Giesecke and Devrient GmbH
Current assignee: Giesecke and Devrient GmbH
Priority date: 2002-05-10
Filing date: 2003-05-06
Publication date: 2005-02-16
Also published as: WO2003096285A2; WO2003096285A3; AU2003240603A8; AU2003240603A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for the examination and demonetization of value markers and a device and a system for carrying out said method. Objects which are to be examined are provided with a value marker which comprises at least one authenticity marker and optionally other security markers. The originality of the value marker is verified by examining the authenticity marker and subsequently the value marker is demonetized. Finally, verification occurs as to whether the demonetarization has been successful.

Description

Testing and de-wetting system for value markings

The invention relates to a method for checking and devaluation of value markings as well as a device and a system for performing the method.

Valuables such as admission tickets or tickets are usually only visually checked for authenticity before they are validated, before they are validated, for example, by stamping a validation field. In the case of articles of daily use, to which a value is assigned, such as deposit containers, there is usually no devaluation when they are returned. In the return devices for refillable deposit bottles that are widely used in retail, the returned bottles are usually checked by scanning their contour, as described, for example, in DE 4443406 A1. Depending on the result of this geometric shape recognition, a value is then paid out or credited. However, such systems known from the prior art have the disadvantage that the same deposit containers can be returned several times. Due to the very high number of deposit containers in circulation, misuse of the system can result in considerable economic damage.

The object on which the invention is based is therefore to propose a system for the return and checking of everyday objects, to which a value is assigned, which represents a higher security against misuse and with which the multiple return of the same objects is effectively prevented. Another aspect of the task is that the system sought should not only be automatable and secure, but also simple and economical to operate. This object is solved by the features of the independent claims. Advantageous designs are specified in the dependent claims.

In the system according to the invention, the objects to be checked are equipped with a value marking which has at least one authenticity feature. This authenticity feature is checked automatically when the items are returned. If the authenticity of the token or the authenticity feature is confirmed during this check, the token is immediately canceled. During the cancellation, the value marking is irreversibly changed in a way that is automatic, i.e. can be checked with the aid of suitable sensors. This is followed by a check in which automated, mechanical means are also used to verify whether the validation was successfully carried out. The checked item will only be released and / or an associated value will be credited or paid out if there is a positive result.

The items to be checked, which are preferably consumer items, such as deposit containers, are provided with a value marking before they are placed on the market. The value marking is preferably carried out as a label or print and applied directly to the object or its packaging. The token can also be prepared on a transfer belt and transferred from there to the object to be checked.

The value marking has at least one, preferably several authenticity and security features, which enable a mechanical and possibly also a visual inspection of the value marking. As authenticity and security features are preferably used features for the production of which special, not freely accessible know-how and / or the equipment and / or material must be used. Authenticity features that are not visually visible, ie that are not or hardly perceived by the human eye when viewed normally, are particularly preferred. This can be, for example, a transparent, essentially colorless print that contains an absorber, the absorption of which is essentially in the invisible region of the spectrum. The authenticity feature can also contain luminescent substances, which are preferably excited and / or emitted in the invisible spectral range. The luminescent substances can be mixed in a certain ratio in order to be able to set and detect a spectrum corresponding to the mixture of the wavelengths emitted after the excitation. The emitted wavelengths can be shorter than that of the exciting light ("up-conversion") or longer ("down-conversion"). The decay time of the emitted light, for example, can also be measured from the point in time at which the exciting source was switched off and can provide information about the authenticity of the examined marking.

As an authenticity feature also crosslinked liquid-crystalline _j poly come mers having a chiral phase into consideration, the produce against a dark, absorbent base a in reflection dependent on the viewing angle color impression and also ren the reflected light circularly polarizing. The authenticity feature is preferably given in a structured form as Patterns or signs applied to the token. Alphanumeric characters or codes, such as bar or pixel codes, through which machine-readable information can be reproduced, are particularly preferred. This information can be, for example, the Show the amount of the value associated with the value marking (eg deposit).

The token can additionally have additional security and authenticity features which increase the security against forgery of the token and enable the reproduction of further information. Examples of this are difficult to reproduce print patterns, such as fine, intertwined lines, so-called "guilloches", which require high resolution and special printing systems. Further examples are visually visible bar or pixel code, embossed holograms and markings, the special interference layer or pearlescent pigments or thermochromic substances These security and authenticity features can be applied individually or in combination with one another at different or, if appropriate, the same positions of the value marking.

In a preferred embodiment, in addition to the authenticity feature, the value marking also has a security feature which can be provided with a cancellation marking. This security feature can contain, for example, thermochromic substances that undergo an irreversible color change when a predetermined temperature is exceeded, or luminescent substances that lose their luminescent properties when a certain temperature is exceeded. Other properties of the security feature that are not visible to the naked eye can also be changed, for example the polarization of the reflected light. These cancellation markings can, for example, be used together with a color change generated at the same time in order to enable simple visual inspection. If this is not the case, technical devices or simple aids are required, for example a UN lamp, as is also used to check banknotes, or a polar sation filter, which can be produced as a simple mass article based on polymer films. A temperature increase can be achieved, for example, by irradiation with intense light, preferably laser light. The security feature can be sensitized to certain wavelengths by additional absorbers.

After the use and use of the secured object, for example the emptying of a container, the user or consumer returns it to an acceptance or collection point, for example. When the secured item is returned, its originality is checked. According to the method according to the invention, this is done by checking the authenticity feature arranged on the value marking. Optical scanners are preferably used here, with which, for example, the geometric shape, extent and position of a marking can be determined. Filters and optical detectors can be used to determine whether the authenticity feature is absorbing in predetermined spectral ranges or emitting radiation, for example, by luminescence. The verification of the authenticity feature is preferably carried out in the non-visible spectral range, for example in the infrared. Information reproduced by the arrangement of the authenticity feature is also preferably checked during the check. For example, a bar code that is not visually visible but is strongly absorbing in the infrared can be read out with the aid of a scanner operating in this spectral range. For the. Verification of the authenticity feature (s) can also be used in image processing systems in which an image or image is generated from the value marking or parts thereof, which is checked with the aid of electronic image processing, for example by determining whether the authenticity feature is present in certain geometric structures. Also help e Image processing can provide further information, for example on the amount of the deposit. The check can also relate, for example, to luminescent substances or detect other properties which are not visible to the naked eye, for example the polarization of the light reflected by the security feature. When checking the authenticity features, the position of the authenticity features and thus also the value marking on the object can also be determined.

If the authenticity check is unsuccessful, for example because the authenticity feature is not present or because there is a malfunction, the checked object is returned or rejected. The user may be shown the reason for the rejection on a display. If the authenticity check has been carried out successfully, the cancellation of the value stamp preferably follows immediately afterwards and without access by operating personnel or the user of the object. During the cancellation, the value marking or part of it is irreversibly changed. This can be done for example by mechanical, thermal, chemical, optical, electrical or magnetic action. The action can be locally limited to the position of the value marking or can take place on the predominant part of the surface of the object to be devalued. The action can take place, for example, by punching or grinding, printing or overprinting, by irradiation with light, in particular laser light, or by hot air. The irreversible change carried out during the validation preferably leads to a change in the optical state of the authenticity or security feature in question. The irreversible change can be checked by machine, preferably it is also visually perceptible. The cancellation can take place both in the area of the authenticity feature used for the authenticity check and in the area of a other security feature and / or in a separate validation area in which no further security features are arranged. During validation, both an existing security feature can be irreversibly changed and an additional validation label can be added. For example, a bar code can be made illegible by writing an additional bar. The additional bar can, for example, be printed without contact using the InkJet process or generated with a laser beam in a thermochromic coating which is transparent in the normal state and which is arranged above or below the barcode. It is also possible to cover a security or authenticity feature during the cancellation with an opaque color layer or to irreversibly change its physical properties or effects by applying chemical substances.

If the devaluation is carried out, for example, by thermal action, the object to be devalued can be rotated about its longitudinal axis in a return device and blown with hot air over its entire height through a slot nozzle. The same function is performed by a laser beam fanned out over the desired height with sufficient power density. Alternatively, the exact position of the security or authenticity feature to be devalued can first be ascertained and then blown point-wise with a nozzle which is connected to a hot air blower by a hose. It is possible for this validation device, which only acts locally, to be positioned automatically, for example by a robot arm or manually by operating personnel. Preferably, the devaluation, which only acts locally and rather in a punctiform manner, can also be carried out with a directed laser beam which is directed at the point to be devalued. The validation is checked immediately after the validation, and preferably without the user or the operating personnel being able to access it. It is checked whether the change in the security or authenticity feature that has occurred as a result of the effect of the devaluation device has occurred. This irreversible change can be automatically detected and checked using suitable measuring equipment. If, for example, additional bars or other markings were placed in a barcode during validation, this barcode is read using a scanner, for example, to check whether the validation has taken place. If the information contained in the barcode is confirmed when reading it, it can be concluded that the cancellation was not carried out successfully. However, if the validation was successful, the barcode in question can either no longer be read at all or the predetermined and expected information is not obtained.

In order to further increase the security against manipulation of the overall system, a feature already checked during the authenticity check can be checked again immediately before the validation is checked, or a further, second authenticity feature can be checked. Such an additional authenticity check detects, for example, manipulations in which the object to be redeemed is removed from the test device immediately before the validation is checked. In this case too, when checking the cancellation, it would be ascertained that, according to the example explained, the supposedly canceled bar code cannot be read. In order to prevent it from being erroneously concluded that the cancellation was successful, an authenticity check can take place before the cancellation check Verification area of existing object and with the correct authenticity feature is confirmed positively.

According to a preferred embodiment, the validity feature used for the authenticity check is irreversibly changed during the validation. The validation can then be checked by carrying out the authenticity check again. After validation, the test device in question determines that the authenticity feature in question is not complete or is no longer genuine. This variant has the advantage that no additional test device is required for checking the cancellation.

According to an alternative embodiment, when checking the cancellation, it can be determined whether there is a cancellation marking introduced in the cancellation step. This cancellation marking can be arranged in a special field intended exclusively for this purpose. The cancellation marking is preferably also visually recognizable and without additional test equipment.

If it is determined when checking the cancellation that the cancellation has not been carried out successfully, the checked object can be returned to the cancellation. If the check cannot be successfully carried out even after repeated validation attempts, there is obviously a malfunction or an attempt at manipulation, and the checked item is rejected without a credit note or payment being made. A manipulation attempt in which, for example, the effect of the cancellation device is shielded from the object to be canceled by attaching a screen, can thus be recognized and prevented. If, on the other hand, the check verifies that the validation has been carried out successfully, the devalued object is, for example, sent to a collective depot, which can be done either by an automated device or by operating personnel. The verified devaluation also releases the value assigned to the object. For example, a deposit can be repaid, a corresponding booking can be made or a credit note can be issued, for example in the form of a voucher. The data can then be transmitted, preferably cryptographically secured, to a so-called clearing point, which balances the deposit amounts between different issuing and acceptance points. The data can also be transferred to the cash register system, for example in larger retail stores with return machines, from which the amount of money indicated on the receipt is paid out.

A preferred embodiment is described below. The value marking of an object has a bar code which is essentially imperceptible in the visible spectral range and is formed, for example, by a colorless, transparent print which contains an absorber which is largely invisible in the visible spectral range. Its main absorption range in the near infrared is around 800 nm. A barcode printed with such an absorber can be read at a wavelength in the range of around 800 nm. For example, an absorber of type 805PP from ADS can be used. Over this barcode is a second, also transparent and essentially colorless print that contains a thermochromic substance and another absorber. During the authenticity check, the barcode is read through the second print with the thermochromic color. A laser scanner is used, which works on the same principle as the existing standard scanners at cash registers in retail stores. A laser diode is used as the light source, which essentially emits at 800 nm. The energy density of the reading beam should be measured so that the thermochromic dye is not changed when the barcode is read. The authenticity check is rated as successful if a given piece of information is determined when reading the bar code. This can be, for example, the amount of the deposit associated with the security marking. During validation, an additional line or bar is created in the coating with the thermochromic color using a laser beam with higher energy or with a different wavelength. The cancellation mark has a dark, also visually perceptible color and also absorbs at 800 nm so that it can also be recognized by the reading beam. The thermochromic color, the absorber contained therein and the power and wavelength of the cancellation laser must be matched to one another in a suitable manner. Good results were achieved with a thermal ink of type 60100X from Luminescence, which contains 0.1% absorber pigments of type 830WS from ADS. A 8 watt laser diode emitting at approx. 810 nm can be used for validation. The cancellation mark created with it is black and stands out against a light background in high contrast_.

The same scanner is used for the validation check as for the authenticity check. An attempt is made to read the bar code that is not visually visible. Due to the irreversible marking added during the cancellation, the barcode can no longer be read. The cancellation was successful. If an object devalued in this way is misused or accidentally returned again, it will be rejected during the authenticity check, since an authenticity feature that has already been devalued is assessed as not genuine. According to a further preferred exemplary embodiment, the value marking of an object to be checked has a barcode which is also visually visible as an authenticity feature. During the authenticity check, this barcode is read and the information it contains is checked. The barcode can be read using a commercially available scanner. If the objects to be checked have a cylindrical geometry, for example in the form of a beverage can, they can be rotated about their longitudinal axis, for example standing on a turntable or lying on rollers, while the scanner scans the outer surface of the cylindrical object. The scanner transmits the position and location, in particular the angle at which the barcode was found, to a control unit, with the aid of which the beam from a devaluation laser is aimed at the determined position. The targeted use of the cancellation laser is preferably carried out via a deflecting or tilting mirror. In order to produce the extension of the cancellation mark, the object provided with the value marking can either be rotated with a fixed beam or the laser or a light guide can be moved over the area to be canceled become. Preferably, only the beam of the cancellation laser is moved over the surface of the area to be canceled by means of a tilting mirror. Around. To achieve as uniform a blackening as possible over the entire width of the cancellation beam, laser beams are preferred which have an intensity profile that is as rectangular as possible instead of the otherwise customary Gaussian intensity profile. The working distance between the laser and the surface to be devalued is preferably between approximately 150 and 350 mm. The marking speed during the movement of the beam relative to the surface to be marked is preferably approximately 130 to 500 mm / sec. If line-shaped cancellation markings are to be generated, as in the present example, cancellation beams are preferred whose beam cross-section corresponds to the geometry has a narrow rectangle with a minimum height of approx. 3 mm and a width of approx. 20 mm. A typical duration for the creation of a cancellation mark is of the order of approx. 0.1 sec.

In a further exemplary embodiment, the marking consists of a color applied directly to the pawn, which on an industrial scale e.g. can be done with the InkJet process or with spray or drip nozzles. The marking can have a clearly recognizable shape, e.g. have a "P" for deposit, or have a more or less circular shape, as can preferably be achieved with a spray nozzle. The color has pigments which, after excitation with a certain wavelength, emit at a different wavelength is the pigment with the designation Z-1029 from the company Radiant, which emits a blue light after excitation with ultraviolet (UN) light.

During the authenticity check within a return device, the marking for excitation can be illuminated in a flash with the aid of UV light-emitting diodes and with the aid of a detector, e.g. has a bandpass filter for the emitted wavelength, the intensity, the wavelength and / or the decay time of the emitted radiation are determined. In order to increase the measurement certainty of the test, it should take place in an environment in which daylight or ambient light is excluded, because the emitted radiation is normally only of low intensity. This requirement can e.g. can be fulfilled by inserting the pawn in a return machine and then closing a door or flap so that it is light-tight.

A digital camera can preferably be used as the detector, which also detects the position of the marking on the surface facing it certainly. In order that only one area has to be examined, the marking is preferably only made on the bottom of the container. In this case, the container is placed in the return machine with the bottom facing the camera. 5

Once the position of the marking has been determined, a spray nozzle is aligned with the marking and the marking is sprayed with black paint. The detector then checks the fluorescent properties of the token a second time. If the cancellation was successful, no or only a negligible signal of the light emitted after the excitation should now be measured.

In all of the examples mentioned, it is advantageous if the checking and the devaluation are controlled by electronic data processing. This also allows all relevant data to be saved and a - preferably cryptographically secured - remote data transmission to e.g. a clearing house can be made. The modules for checking, data processing and transmission should preferably be combined in a housing that is protected against manipulation.

^: 20

Further features and advantages of the invention result from the description of preferred exemplary embodiments and from the drawing:

It shows:

25

Fig. 1. the schematic sequence of the method according to the invention using a flow chart,

2 shows a value marking designed as a label in supervision. A preferred exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention is explained in FIG. 1 using a flow chart. In position 1, a commodity, for example a container, is provided with a value marking by means of a label or an imprint. The value marking has machine-verifiable authenticity and security features. The token can, for example, be used as a token. The marked objects are placed on the market in position 2. This can be done, for example, ex works of the manufacturer or bottler or via the wholesale or retail trade. Position 3 stands for the return of the item after use by the consumer to a collection point. Use can be understood to mean, for example, the emptying of a container. Position 4 represents the verification of the authenticity of the token at a receiving point. This can be done in a reverse vending machine or with the aid of a mobile testing device, which is ^• held in an appropriate manner by the operating personnel on or at the level mark. In the case of result a, the authenticity check was unsuccessful and the item is returned without a refund or deposit (item 5). For information to the consumer, the reason for the return is displayed in a display device. Result a occurs, among other things, if there is no token, the token does not have the required authenticity feature or has already been canceled, and if there is a malfunction during the authenticity check. Result b occurs if the value marking is found to be genuine during the authenticity check. In position 6 the cancellation of the value marking takes place. Either an authenticity feature or a different security feature can be irreversibly changed. If the devaluation does not affect the entire surface of the object over a large area, the actual devaluation can be preceded by a step in which the position of the object to be devalued is first Security or authenticity element is determined. In position 7 the validation is checked. With result c, the cancellation was unsuccessful and a decision is made in position 8 to return the item. For a limited and predetermined number of further attempts, the item can first be re-validated (position 6). This corresponds to result d. Result e occurs after multiple failed attempts to validate or obvious attempts at forgery or manipulation or malfunctions of the validation device. There is a transition to position 5 with the return of the item without a value adjustment. Result f corresponds to a successful cancellation and in item 9 the canceled item is transferred to a collective depot. In position 10 the value reimbursement takes place. This can be done, for example, by paying out in cash, issuing a credit voucher, instructing a booking or transferring corresponding data to a higher-level cash register system.

Every action by the return machine or the operating personnel is preferably logged. This data, together with the data on the value adjustment, can be transferred immediately or, with a time delay, to a cash register system or a higher-level agency, such as a clearing agent, to offset the deposit amounts at various issuing and redemption points. The data is preferably transmitted cryptographically secured. In order to prevent manipulation of the transmitted data or the sending of incorrect data, the test and

Validation device are protected against access to its data storage and processing unit. For example, all cryptographic keys can be deleted when the housing of the device or a module is opened. The clearing house can also provide special Devices and computer programs are used to decrypt the incoming data. If the collective depot (position 9) is no longer ready to accept, a response to position 4 is preferably made and the acceptance of further items is refused.

2 shows a preferred embodiment of a value marker 1 of the system according to the invention in supervision. In this example, the value marker 1 is designed as an adhesive label. The adhesives are selected so that the labels cannot be removed from the surface of a marked object without being destroyed. To protect against counterfeiting and misuse, the token is equipped with a variety of features and information. In the upper field, which is only shown in broken lines, there is a transparent, colorless and therefore visually invisible bar code 2. The bar code contains an absorber, which preferably absorbs in the near infrared, and can therefore be read in this spectral range. The token 1 also has an imprint 3, which has crosslinked liquid-crystalline material with a chiral phase and conveys a viewing angle-dependent color impression. The light reflected by the liquid crystalline material is circularly polarized. The liquid-crystalline material for the imprint 3 is selected, for example, so that part of the imprint circularly polarizes on the left, while the other part circularly polarizes on the right. The bar code 2, which is not visible in the visual spectral range, and the liquid-crystalline material 3 act in different spectral ranges and therefore do not influence one another in their effect. They can therefore be arranged overlapping, so that the barcode absorbing in the near infrared is arranged above the polarizing print. This arrangement also has the advantage that the presence of the bar code 2, which is not visually visible, is additionally camouflaged by the printing with the liquid-crystalline material 3. The Both features 2 and 3 can be used in the authenticity check both or alternatively as an authenticity feature. If the bar code 2, which is not visually visible and only absorbs in the near infrared, is used as the authenticity feature, the authenticity check can be carried out with an IR scanner which operates, for example, at a wavelength of 800 nm. The information reproduced by the bar code can be, for example, the amount of the value or deposit.

If the print with the polarizing liquid-crystalline material is used as an authenticity feature, the authenticity check is carried out, for example, using polarization filters and an imaging device with which the shape and geometric structure of the individual differently polarizing regions is checked using electronic image processing methods. Further security features of the token 1 are formed by a visually visible barcode 4 which is printed in normal black color and is covered over the entire area with a transparent, colorless coating 6 which contains thermochromic substances and small amounts of an additional absorber. This coating is hardly perceived visually and is only indicated in FIG. 2 by a dashed frame. The largely transparent and colorless coating 6 also largely covers a cancellation area 5 in which no further imprints are present. When this value marking is canceled, an irreversible cancellation marking is generated with a laser in the coating 6, which extends both over parts of the visually visible bar code 4 and also projects into the cancellation field 5. The absorber contained in the coating 6 is selected such that it absorbs in particular at the wavelength of the devaluation laser, thereby causing an irreversible color change in the thermochromic dye contained in the coating. The cancellation mark is, for example, a black line, which on the one hand changes the barcode 4 and causes it to be impossible or impossible to read. In the cancellation field 5 there is additionally or alternatively a cancellation marking, which can also be designed as a simple black line. The cancellation mark generated in the otherwise unprinted cancellation field 5 can be perceived particularly well visually and enables a simple and quick visual check as to whether the value marker 1 has already been canceled. Visible barcode 4 is preferably used for the machine check of the cancellation. A barcode that has already been validated can no longer be read. The information contained in it can relate, for example, to the type of the marked object, its material or the responsible disposal company or bottler.

In this exemplary embodiment, as in all other cases in which other features are used for the authenticity check than for the cancellation, or if the authenticity features are arranged at a different position of the value marking than the devalued security features, it is necessary that in addition to the authenticity check and before performing the cancellation, a check step is carried out to ensure that the relevant value marking has not already been canceled. In the case of different and differently positioned features for the authenticity check and the cancellation, this ensures that multiple items are not credited for items that have already been validated and have a correct authenticity feature and are returned again.

The value marking 1 preferably has further information 7 which can be read by humans and which can be designed as a normal color print. To make it even more difficult to reproduce and counterfeit the tokens, they can also be printed with a background print 8. 2, which is only indicated for a small section, and which is formed, for example, by fine interlaced lines.

Claims

P a te ntans sp

1. A method for checking and changing a value marking (1) which has at least one authenticity feature (2, 3) and, if appropriate, further security features.

5 features (4, 8) with the steps:

Checking an authenticity feature (2, 3),

Validate the token (1), 10

Check the cancellation.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a security feature is irreversibly changed during the cancellation.

15

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is additionally checked before the cancellation whether a security feature has already been canceled.

^'20 4. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that an authenticity feature is changed irreversibly in the invalidation.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a check by using light, preferably laser light

25 takes place.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that a check is carried out in the non-visible spectral range, in particular in the infrared.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that during a check, a luminescent security or authenticity feature is excited with light of a predetermined wavelength, and the emitted luminescent light is measured.

5

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the wavelength and / or the decay time of the luminescent light is determined during a check.

10 9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that a check is carried out with an optical scanner or a matrix or line camera.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that a barcode or pixel code (2D code) is read during a check.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that during a check a visually invisible but absorbing in the near infrared

^: 20 render bar or pixel code is read. - _

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that a check is carried out by means of electronic image processing.

25 13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the polarization of the light reflected by a security or ^' authenticity feature is determined during a check.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that during the cancellation an irreversible change in the stamp due to mechanical, thermal, chemical or optical effects.

• follows.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the cancellation is carried out by punching, grinding, printing or overprinting, laser irradiation or hot air.

16. The method according to any one of claims 2 or 4, characterized in that the luminescence properties or the polarization properties are changed during the cancellation.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that during the cancellation a cancellation field is marked visually.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that the cancellation is carried out with the ink jet printing process.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that the cancellation is carried out with a visually invisible or a visually visible and infrared absorbing or a luminescent ink.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that the position of the value marking on the object marked thereby is determined during a check.

21. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, characterized in that the devaluing effect locally limited only at the position of the value marking or the security feature to be devalued.

22. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 21, characterized in that the cancellation is carried out by means of a laser beam.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that the laser beam is directed onto the region to be devalued via at least one deflecting mirror.

24. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that, in the cancellation of the surface with the level mark verse- ^"Henen subject upper or the entire surface is applied with the depreciating effect.

25. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 24, characterized in that an authenticity feature is checked after the cancellation and before checking the cancellation.

26. The method according to any one of claims J. to 25, characterized in that the checking of an authenticity feature, the devaluation and the verification of the devaluation is controlled by a unit for electronic data processing.

27. Device for performing the method according to one of claims 1 to 26 with

a device for checking an authenticity feature, a validation device for irreversibly changing the value marking,

a device for checking the cancellation.

5

28. The device according to claim 27, characterized in that the device for checking the cancellation is identical to the device for checking the authenticity feature.

10. The device according to claim 27 or 28, characterized in that the cancellation device has a laser and a deflecting mirror for positioning the laser beam.

30. Device according to one of claims 27 to 29, characterized in that it has a unit for electronic data processing with which the checking of an authenticity feature, the cancellation and the checking of the cancellation can be controlled.

31. The system for testing and validation of value markings (1), the ^"20 comprises: -_

a value marking (1) with at least one machine-checkable authenticity feature (2, 3),

25 - an object or a packaging which is provided with the token (1),

a device for checking the authenticity feature (2, 3), a validation device which validates the value marking (1) depending on the result of the verification of the authenticity feature (2, 3),

- A device for checking the devaluation of the value marking (1).

32. System according to claim 31, characterized in that the value marking additionally has at least one security feature (4, 5, 6, 8).

33. System according to claim 31 or 32, characterized in that the value marking is designed as a label or print.

34. System according to one of claims 31 to 33, characterized in that the authenticity feature or a security feature contains information about the amount of the value assigned to an object (deposit).

35. System according to one of claims 31 to 34, characterized in that an authenticity or security feature is designed as a barcode or pixel code.

36. System according to one of claims 31 to 35, characterized in that the system is designed to transmit data about the checked and canceled value markings or the values assigned to them, preferably in encrypted form, to a clearing house or a cash register system.