Coated wire

A wire comprising a wire core with a surface, the wire core having a coating layer superimposed on its surface, wherein the wire core is a silver-based wire core comprising crystal grains, wherein the coating layer is a double-layer comprised of a 1 to 100 nm thick inner layer of palladium or nickel and an adjacent 1 to 250 nm thick outer layer of gold, wherein

• the gold layer comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of antimony, bismuth, arsenic and tellurium in a total proportion in the range of from 10 to 300 wt.-ppm, based on the weight of the wire, where the at least one member exhibits a concentration gradient within the gold layer with the gradient increasing in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the wire core, and
• the wire exhibits at least one of the following intrinsic properties A1) to A3):
• A1) the average grain size of the crystal grains in the wire core, measured in the longitudinal direction, ranges from 0.7 to 1.1 μm;
• A2) the fraction of twin boundaries, measured in the longitudinal direction of the wire, ranges from 5 to 40%;
• and
• A3) 20 to 70% of the crystal grains of the wire core are oriented in the <100> direction, and 3 to 40% of the crystal grains of the wire core are oriented in the <111> direction, each % with respect to the total number of crystal grains with orientation parallel to the drawing direction of the wire.