An apparatus and method for validating a paper-like piece are of a type having a detector which irradiates light onto a deposited paper-like piece and thereby produces a detection signal corresponding to a pattern on the paper-like piece and validating the paper-like piece by collating the detection signal produced by the detector in response to deposition of the paper-like piece with a predetermined standard pattern. Features of the apparatus and method are that a reference paper-like piece having no particular pattern is deposited and reference level data is obtained on the basis of a detection signal produced by the detector in response to this deposition, that data to be examined is provided by converting a detection signal produced by the detector in response to deposition of a paper-like piece to be validated to a ratio to or deviation from the reference level data and that validation is made by collating this data to be examined with the standard pattern. Since the base for normalizing measured data for collation is set at the level of the reference paper-like piece, validation becomes less vulnerable to adverse effects by a parts error and an assembling error in an optical type detector with resulting improvement in the validation accuracy.
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