That's still a lot of bill sorting though. Not sure if you can demand sequential bills from the bank, but getting your bills pre-sorted might have been the best option, then it's just a matter of looking at the first and last bills.. Could have even just left it at the bank knowing the digit range and avoided the whole theft problem.
- only the serial numbers matter not the physical bills, write them down on a ledger with an index
- bill reading machine with simple ocr, scans all serial numbers into a db
- solve the opposite problem: given the dj's serial number, is it possible to track down that particular bill? Arbitrage the opportunity by running the same contest in other states for a lower sum
