A currency evaluation device for receiving a stack of currency bills and rapidly evaluating all the bills in the stack. The device comprises an input receptacle for receiving a stack of bills to be evaluated and a plurality of output receptacles for receiving the bills after they have been evaluated. A transport mechanism transports the bills, one at a time, from the input receptacle to one of the output receptacles along a transport path. A discriminating unit including a detector positioned along the transport path between the input receptacle and the output receptacle evaluates the bills. The discriminating unit counts and determines the denomination of the bills. A means for flagging bills meeting or failing to meet a certain criteria causes the transport mechanism to halt in response to a determination that a bill meets or fails to meet the criteria.