Abstract: A ticket reading device for reading a ticket having at least one row of indicia thereon as disclosed including means at a loading station for accepting the ticket and sensing its presence when presented for reading, means for moving the ticket from the loading station past a reading station at which the indicia is progressively translated into an electrical signal representative thereof and means at a cancellation station for identifiably marking the ticket upon successfully traversing the reading station. A ticket is also disclosed including two spaced and parallel rows of coded indicia each row being fully representative of the same predetermined information as the other but reproducing it by a different code.