Pokemon GO Gold Coin - How to get the mysterious Paldea coin and what it does

Just noticed the new Pokemon GO gold coin in your inventory? That's not some glitch. Despite the name being a bunch of question marks akin to the legendary MissingNo, the mysterious coins littering players' bags in November are very much intentional. Here's what we know about the Paldea coin in Pokemon GO.

Like when Meltan showed up in PoGO before any other game, the Gold Coin in Pokemon GO alludes to a Pokemon that will link the mobile Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Now that we know what we're dealing with, and the games have released, here's what going down.

For more on Pokemon GO, read up on the best Arlo counters, Sierra counters, and Cliff counters for November. Their teams haven't changed in a little while now, but they're due a shakeup for the new season, so you'll want to pay attention.

What is the Pokemon GO Gold Coin?

The Pokemon GO gold coin is a new item that appeared in-game on November 5, 2022, directly after the hours of the Community Day Classic event starring Dratini.

Initially, the game had it down as the ?????? Coin, until its real name was revealed. Also known as the Paldea coin, this name doesn't come from any visible markings linking to the region, but actually name-dropped in the item's own description.

How do I get the Pokemon GO Gold Coin?

Getting gold coins in Pokemon GO was easy during the event. Certain Pokestops turned gold deposited ?????? coins among their rewards into your bag. Right now, there doesn't appear to be a way to get them. But you also seemingly don't need them.

What does the gold coin do in Pokemon GO?

So far, nothing. The ?????? coin in Pokemon GO is just a little trophy to say "I was there."

When will the gold coins in Pokemon GO be useable?

There was the idea that you'd need 999 of them to evolve Ghimmighoul into Goldengo, but this only applies to evolving Ghimmighoul in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet right now.

You can't currently catch Ghimmighoul in Pokemon GO, suggesting you'll have to transfer it from the main games to add it to your Pokedex, rendering the Gold Coin relatively useless.

History of the Pokemon GO Gold Coin and the Coin Pokemon

Around a month ago now, dataminers found the image for the item in the game data. Named Mysterious Coin, it was already clear at that point that it would link to the Coin Pokemon added to the game data and spotted hiding behind the camera controls of a recent Pokemon Scarlet and Violet trailer.

On November 5, both the coin and the Pokemon appeared in-game, with the coin dropping at new gold Pokestops and the Coin Pokemon then following the player on the overworld map after a brief chat with the Paldea region's school homeroom teacher Jacq through a hologram device also discovered in the game around the same time.

The event echoes the one that revealed Meltan and Melmetal in Pokemon GO ahead of their release in Pokemon Let's GO and Pokemon Sword and Shield, where they started to spawn unannounced at the end of a Community Day event a few years back.

We'll have more on the Pokemon GO gold coin as soon as it drops. Until then, check out the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Pokedex. We'll be updating that with this new Pokemon as soon as we know a name.