Black-to-color shifting security element

Security element for a banknote, a document of value, right or identity, a ticket, a label, a branded good identifier, or a tax banderole, comprising

• i) a coating containing at least one optically variable pigment having a substantial viewing-angle dependent color variation, selected from the group consisting of vacuum-deposited thin-film interference pigments, interference-layer coated particles, and cholesteric liquid crystal pigments;
• and
• ii) at least one selective spectral absorbing material embodied as a compound or a mixture of compounds selected form the group consisting of soluble organic dyes, insoluble organic pigments, and insoluble inorganic pigments;
• wherein said selective spectral absorbing material has spectral absorption properties such that it substantially blocks out the visible spectral components reflected by said optically variable pigment at orthogonal incidence, and does not absorb all spectral components reflected by said optically variable pigment under oblique incidence,
• the security element thereby exhibiting a black appearance when viewed at orthogonal angle, and a colored appearance when viewed at grazing angle.