GOLDswitch
CCL Secure (Australia)
Type: Metallic printed patch — gold-toned metallic pigment ink applied as a defined area on Guardian™ polymer banknote substrate, with intensity-variable specular reflection
Overview
GOLDswitch is a CCL Secure proprietary metallic printed security element, developed by the company under its former name Innovia Security and exclusive to the Guardian™ polymer banknote platform. It is one of a family of specialised security inks developed specifically for the smooth, non-porous surface of Guardian™ polymer, which enables a quality of metallic optical effect not achievable on cotton-paper substrates. GOLDswitch occupies a distinct position in the CCL Secure ink portfolio — it is neither an optically variable colour-shift ink like G-SWITCH™ and AURORA™, nor a broad-palette metallic like METALIX™. Instead it delivers a singular gold-toned metallic glitter effect and is frequently deployed as a foundation layer enabling secondary, higher-security intaglio-based optical effects.
Technology & Effects
GOLDswitch is a metallic pigment that is made up as an ink and is printed on top of the polymer substrate as a patch. It has a metallic glitter. When changing the angle of view, glitter intensity changes, but not the colour.
This behaviour distinguishes GOLDswitch clearly from colour-shift inks: the gold tone remains constant at all viewing angles, while the intensity of the metallic sheen — its specular brightness — varies dramatically with the angle of observation. At perpendicular viewing the patch presents an even, bright golden metallic appearance; at acute angles the specular glitter intensifies, creating a striking lustrous effect. This is the same angular-intensity-variation seen in conventional metallic inks on paper, but enhanced by the smooth non-porous polymer surface which prevents the ink from being absorbed into the substrate and thereby maximises the reflectivity of the metallic pigment.
Unlike the GOLDswitch element, METALIX™ colour range includes red, gold, copper, silver, blue, green, violet and salmon — confirming that GOLDswitch is specifically gold-toned only, whereas METALIX™ is the broader-palette metallic ink in the CCL Secure family.
Role as a Security Platform
A critical and distinctive characteristic of GOLDswitch is its function as a substrate for higher-order security effects applied by intaglio printing. This patch may then be used as a platform for other security features such as intaglio contrast effect (ICE) and transparent intaglio disappearing effect (TIED).
The Intaglio Contrast Effect (ICE) is produced by printing with special inks by intaglio over the GOLDswitch metallic patch area. ICE is an image printed with special inks by intaglio over the metal-coated area of the polymer banknote. The element has an optically variable colour effect: the colours of the image become more contrasting when looking at the banknote at a very sharp angle. The GOLDswitch metallic background acts as a high-reflectivity substrate that dramatically amplifies the contrast between the intaglio-printed image and its surroundings at acute viewing angles — an effect that is entirely dependent on the metallic patch beneath and cannot be achieved with the standard opacified polymer surface alone.
This layered architecture — metallic patch plus intaglio-printed optically variable effect — creates a compound security system where multiple independent manufacturing processes (substrate-stage metallic printing plus post-delivery intaglio printing) must be accurately replicated in combination, substantially raising the barrier to counterfeiting.
Form Factors & Application
GOLDswitch is applied as a defined patch — a specific shaped area of the banknote rather than a continuous band or stripe — during the Guardian™ substrate production stage. The smooth, non-porous polymer surface is critical to the quality of the metallic effect: the same pigment on a paper substrate would be partially absorbed into the fibre matrix, reducing reflectivity. On polymer, the full metallic pigment layer sits at the surface, delivering maximum specular glitter. The patch is positioned precisely to register with subsequent intaglio printing, enabling the ICE or TIED compound effects.
Security Levels
GOLDswitch alone operates at Level 1 — the gold metallic glitter is immediately visible and distinctive in normal ambient lighting, and the intensity variation with viewing angle is an overt authentication gesture requiring no tools. When used as the platform for ICE, the compound feature adds a strong optically variable tilt effect at Level 1, with the dramatic contrast enhancement at acute angles creating an authentication response that is unmistakable and impossible to simulate with standard commercial metallic inks or foils.
Notable Deployments
The Brunei 20 Dollars (2007 series) features a GOLDswitch metallic patch. The Brunei 100 Dollars (2004 series) features the Intaglio Contrast Effect (ICE) — the compound effect produced by intaglio printing over the GOLDswitch metallic patch area. Brunei's Guardian™ polymer banknote series is among the earliest and most technically sophisticated deployments of the CCL Secure specialised ink family on circulating banknotes.
- Name
- GOLDswitch
- Category
- Security Feature
- Effect Types
- Metallic
- Company
- Linked Features
- 1 security feature