Intaglio Gold

Intaglio Gold Effect type: Metallic intaglio print

Intaglio gold is an application of the standard intaglio process using gold-coloured metallic ink in place of conventional pigment-based ink, producing a raised print element that simultaneously carries the tactile characteristics of intaglio and the visually distinctive appearance of a metallic gold finish. The result is a print element — typically applied to a high-profile design motif such as a national emblem or denomination numeral — that presents a gleaming, jewel-like gold lustre to the naked eye while retaining the firm raised profile detectable by touch that is the hallmark of all intaglio printing.

The visual effect of intaglio gold is straightforwardly striking at Level 1: the gold metallic colour stands out clearly against the surrounding design elements, and the raised relief confirms authenticity by touch without any special tools or training. Unlike optically variable features that shift colour with viewing angle, the gold effect remains consistent across viewing angles but changes in intensity with the light source, exhibiting the characteristic metallic shimmer of bronze or aluminium-based pigment inks rather than a colour flip. This makes the feature immediately legible to the public while remaining difficult to reproduce convincingly by commercially available printing methods, as metallic inks in intaglio require both the correct pigment formulation and the high-pressure printing conditions of a security intaglio press.

The feature is deployed on Kazakhstan's Saka Style banknote series, introduced from December 2023, where the National Emblem of Kazakhstan is depicted with a high-relief layer of golden metallic paint as the first named security feature of the new series. The Saka Style series was produced by the Banknote Factory of the National Bank of Kazakhstan in partnership with G+D and Louisenthal for substrate and applied features, and SICPA and Crane Currency for ink and thread components. The gold intaglio is applied at the state printworks as part of the intaglio printing stage, making it a printworks-executed feature rather than a supplied applied component. As a technique it is available wherever a security printworks operates intaglio equipment and has access to approved metallic security inks, though it remains uncommon in global deployment compared to conventional intaglio.

Name

Intaglio Gold

Category

Security Feature

Effect Types

Metallic

Linked Features

1 security feature