MVC / MVC+

MVC (Moiré Variable Colour) and MVC+ are optically variable security features produced by Goznak using the same fundamental production approach as HMC — a combination of multicolour offset printing with a subsequent blind intaglio embossing stage — but achieving a distinct visual effect based on moiré optical principles rather than hidden image revelation. In MVC, the offset printing stage lays down a series of differently coloured parallel lines across the designated area of the banknote. When the blind embossing die is applied over this printed substrate, it creates a precise relief structure whose geometric periodicity interacts with the periodicity of the underlying colour lines to establish the conditions for a moiré effect. At right angles under normal viewing, the feature presents as a flat, unremarkable monochrome field — the coloured structure beneath is suppressed by the angular geometry of the embossed surface. When the note is tilted, the changing light incidence angle unlocks the moiré relationship between the relief pattern and the printed lines, and a rainbow of iridescent colour stripes sweeps across the element.

The colour sequence that emerges on tilting is not a printed image but an interference phenomenon — a product of the geometric relationship between two periodic structures rather than of any pigment directly visible at right angles. This distinguishes MVC from standard iridescent print effects, where colour is produced by optically variable pigments that shift with angle independently of any substrate structure. In MVC the effect depends on the precise registration and spatial frequency match between the embossed relief and the offset colour lines, making it highly sensitive to exact production parameters and correspondingly difficult to reproduce without the correct combination of printing plate geometry, embossing die specification, and press registration accuracy.

MVC+ is an enhanced iteration that introduces a second zone within the same feature area. Viewed at right angles, MVC+ shows two visually distinct regions: one zone already displays the rainbow colour stripes continuously, while the adjacent zone appears as a uniform single-colour background. When the note is tilted, the rainbow effect that was latent in the background zone now emerges and aligns in precise register with the rainbow stripes already visible in the first zone, producing a single coherent continuous rainbow across both areas. The effect under UV illumination adds a further verification layer: the upper zone shows uniform single-colour luminescence at right angles, but on tilting, luminescent colour stripes appear in that zone and extend as a direct continuation of the stripes continuously visible in the lower zone. This multi-stage, multi-condition behaviour — white light upright, white light tilted, UV tilted — provides three distinct authentication states from a single feature, substantially increasing the challenge for counterfeiters who must reproduce all three conditions simultaneously.

Both MVC and MVC+ are produced on paper substrate and are closely associated with Goznak's banknote production for the Bank of Russia and for other central banks whose notes are manufactured at Goznak's printing facilities. The features form part of a coherent family alongside HMC, sharing the same offset-plus-blind-embossing production logic and frequently appearing together on the same denomination series. The Syrian pound series attributed to Goznak production is a documented external deployment where both HMC and MVC appear together as part of the note's authentication architecture. As with HMC, MVC and MVC+ are proprietary Goznak technologies and are encountered exclusively on notes where Goznak is the production partner.

Name

MVC / MVC+

Category

Security Feature

Effect Types

Latent image

Company

Goznak
Company Website

Product Page

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Linked Features

3 security features