It turns out a $100 bill passed Tuesday at the Quick Stop Market at 1155 Tusculum Blvd. is real.

It's just old, Greeneville police told management at the market.

The 1981 series bill, which is of a different design and texture than more recent $100 bills, did not stand up to the test-pen procedure used on today's paper money, and did not appear genuine under ultraviolet light, a store manager said.

The bill was presented to a clerk on Tuesday to pay for a pack of cigarettes. After checking it in the customary ways, store employees told the woman who brought the bill into the store they had to keep it and turn it over to police.

After examining the bill, however, police told Quick Stop management the $100 bill was not counterfeit.

The bill was returned to the Quick Stop Market and deposited in the bank on Friday, a manager said.

The woman who presented the bill to the store clerk returned to the store Thursday and was reimbursed, the manager said.

"The officer said not to beat ourselves up on it. It has happened before," the manager said.

The woman who brought in the old $100 bill told the manager that the bill was given to her by an older man, a possible indication that it had been kept out of circulation for some time.