A currency counter for counting currency notes withdrawn from a supply and advancing the notes one by one along a path past a density detector and a magnetic material detector to a stacker at a delivery location upon energization of a common drive motor in which an amplifier responsive to the density detector is automatically calibrated each time the counter starts and in which density and motor current signals are combined for doubles detection. The motor speed is adjusted for document length to provide a predetermined number of counts per minute. An adaptive counterfeit check is made. The motor is deenergized at the end of a batch count and momentarily reenergized to ensure that the last note of the batch is stacked.