Two counterfeit hundred dollar bills have appeared during the last two days in Ames.

Employees at U.S. Bank, 2546 Lincoln Way, reported receiving counterfeit hundred dollar bills Tuesday and Wednesday to the Ames Police Department.

Ames Police Cmdr. Randy Kessel said both counterfeit hundreds came from Kum & Go, 4506 Lincoln Way, but during two different transactions.

LuAnn Norlin, assistant manager at U.S. Bank, said both bills had the same serial number.

“We usually see some throughout the year, but it’s an anomaly for two to show up within two days,” Kessel said. “Hundreds are most common, but sometimes we see fives and twenties.”

Norlin said the bills were immediately identifiable as counterfeits.

“These were pretty obvious because the texture of the paper was off. They didn’t contain the thread found on the side of the bill and also, there wasn’t a watermark on the right side,” Norlin said. “One bill was thicker and the other one was like the older bills with the bigger head and it was thinner.”

Banks have a marker to test bills to determine if they are counterfeit, she said. If the mark stays yellow, it’s legitimate, and if it turns black or brown, then it’s counterfeit.

Once a counterfeit bill has been reported to the police, local officers investigate the situation. If forged bills continue to show up, Ames police officers contact the U.S. Secret Service branch in Des Moines.

“Usually what we do is send the bills to Secret Service because they have the capability of examining the serial numbers to see if there is a sequence of bills in a batch or geographic area,” Kessel said.