How to Get a Coin Bag in Pokémon GO

How to Get a Coin Bag in Pokémon GO: The Complete Guide

To get a Coin Bag in Pokémon GO, you need to send a Postcard to the Pokémon GO-connected version of Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet on Nintendo Switch, then open the game and walk to collect coins with your roaming Gimmighoul. The Coin Bag is a reusable key item that spawns a Roaming Form Gimmighoul beside your avatar, and each coin you collect is one step toward the 999 coins required to evolve Gimmighoul into Gholdengo. The full process takes about five minutes to set up for the first time and can be repeated every day.

What the Coin Bag Actually Does

The Coin Bag is not a consumable item you buy or find in the wild — it is a key item tied to your save data that activates a roaming encounter. According to the game’s official feature documentation for the Scarlet and Violet connectivity update, sending a Postcard from Pokémon GO to a paired Switch save grants the Coin Bag (or refills it if you already own one). Once activated, a Gimmighoul in Roaming Form appears on your map and wanders around your current location for roughly 30 minutes.

The important mechanical detail most guides miss: the Coin Bag does not guarantee a fixed number of coins. Tapping the roaming Gimmighoul lets you catch it, and each successful catch awards a random number of Gimmighoul Coins — commonly in the 1–5 range per catch, and the Roaming Form has a notoriously low catch rate. You can catch the same roaming Gimmighoul repeatedly while the bag is active, so the 30-minute window is really a coin-farming window, not a single encounter.

What you need before you start

• A Pokémon GO account that has reached at least Trainer Level 5 (the minimum for sending Postcards, which unlock via the Postcard Book).
• A Nintendo Switch with Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet and an active Nintendo Switch Online membership for the connectivity features that sync with Pokémon GO.
• Both games updated to their current 2026 versions — the Postcard feature requires the compatibility patches that rolled out alongside the connectivity feature.
• Postcards saved in your Postcard Book. You collect these by spinning PokéStops and saving the associated Postcard, or by receiving them from friends.

Step-by-Step: Obtaining the Coin Bag

1. Link your accounts. In Pokémon GO, open Settings → Connected Devices and Services → Nintendo Switch and follow the pairing prompts. Why: the Postcard transfer only works between linked accounts; without this, the send option never appears.
2. Save a Postcard. Spin a PokéStop, tap the Postcard icon, and save it to your Postcard Book. Why: you can only send Postcards you have saved — you cannot generate one on demand.
3. Open the Postcard Book and send one. Select any saved Postcard and choose “Send to Nintendo Switch.” Why: this is the single action that triggers the Coin Bag grant on the Switch side.
4. Launch Scarlet or Violet and check your bag. The Coin Bag appears in the Key Items pocket. If you already had one, it simply gets topped up. Why: the item lives on the Switch save, not in Pokémon GO.
5. Walk around in-game. Roaming Form Gimmighoul spawns near your character; approach and interact to start the catch encounter. Why: Roaming Form is a field spawn tied to the Coin Bag’s active state, not a random overworld encounter.
6. Repeat catches within the window. Keep walking and re-encountering the roaming Gimmighoul until the timer runs out. Why: coins are the bottleneck for evolution, so maximizing catches per window is the whole point.

A worked example

Say you average 3 coins per catch and manage roughly 12 catches in a 30-minute Coin Bag window — a reasonable rate if you move continuously and use Razz Berries to offset the low catch rate. That is about 36 coins per activation. Because you can only send one Postcard per day to refresh the bag, reaching 999 coins takes roughly 28 days of daily windows at that pace (999 ÷ 36 ≈ 27.75). If you only catch about 8 Gimmighoul per window at 2 coins each (16 coins/day), the same total stretches to around 62 days. That gap — 28 versus 62 days — is why movement and berry use matter more than any single catch.

Activation Duration and How to Maximize the Window

The Coin Bag’s roaming spawn stays active for approximately 30 minutes per activation. A few practical points, drawn from how the feature has behaved across the connectivity updates:

• One Postcard per day refreshes it. You do not need to re-link accounts each time — just send a fresh Postcard.
• Movement generates encounters. Standing still yields far fewer Gimmighoul, which is why the stationary row in the table above performs so poorly.
• Use berries. Roaming Form Gimmighoul has a low base catch rate; Razz Berries meaningfully improve your success rate per encounter, and Golden Razz Berries are the strongest option if you have a stockpile.
• Plan a route. A loop through a dense spawn area keeps encounters coming; you want to be re-encountering, not waiting.
• The bag does not expire. Unlike temporary items, the Coin Bag persists once you own it; only its active roaming state is time-limited.

Roaming Pokémon benefits beyond the coins

The Coin Bag is one of the few connectivity features that feeds directly back into a different Pokémon title. Its main reward is the coin stream toward Gholdengo, but the roaming Gimmighoul encounters also contribute standard catch experience and can fill Pokédex entries on the Scarlet/Violet side. In short: the Coin Bag turns a small daily Postcard habit into a long-running project with a clear, valuable endpoint.

Coin Bag vs. Buying Gimmighoul Coins: What Makes Sense

There is no legitimate way to purchase Gimmighoul Coins with real money in either game — they come exclusively from Roaming Form catches tied to the Coin Bag. Treat any third-party “coin selling” as a scam, since it cannot interface with your save file legitimately. The only real decision is whether to commit to the daily Postcard routine or ignore the feature entirely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you get a Coin Bag without Pokémon Scarlet or Violet?

No. The Coin Bag is granted only when you send a Postcard from Pokémon GO to a linked Scarlet or Violet save, so you need one of those two titles plus the Nintendo Switch connectivity feature. If you do not own either game, the only route to Gholdengo is trading with a player who does.

How long does the Coin Bag last?

Once the bag is in your Key Items pocket, it remains permanently — it is a reusable key item, not a consumable. The roaming Gimmighoul encounter it produces stays active for roughly 30 minutes per Postcard sent, after which you need a new Postcard to reactivate the spawn.

How many coins do you get per Coin Bag use?

There is no fixed payout. Each caught Roaming Form Gimmighoul awards a random number of coins, commonly around 1 to 5, so a full 30-minute window typically yields anywhere from about 12 coins when stationary to roughly 48 coins with an efficient walking route and berries.

Do you have to catch Gimmighoul, or can you just find coins?

You collect coins by catching the Roaming Form Gimmighoul that spawns from the Coin Bag; picking up loose coins in the world is not how the feature works. The roaming Gimmighoul respawns repeatedly during the active window, so you tap, catch, and repeat until the timer ends.

What do Gimmighoul Coins do?

Gimmighoul Coins accumulate toward the 999-coin requirement to evolve Gimmighoul into Gholdengo. Gholdengo is a Steel/Ghost Pokémon with a strong special attack stat and the signature move Make It Rain, making the grind a worthwhile long-term goal for competitive players.

Can you send more than one Postcard per day?

You can save and send Postcards, but the practical Coin Bag cadence is one refresh per day, since each send resets your roaming window. Sending multiple Postcards in a single session does not stack the bag’s active duration — plan for one focused 30-minute farming window daily instead.