Zombie Pigman do not hold gold swords, this is in the nether, as well as the overworld
Linked issues
Comments 4
Duplicate of MC-46761
They probably still spawn with their swords, they are just not displayed. Similarly, zombies holding items will not display them, just their armor. Skeletons do still visibly hold stuff, though.
Duplicate of MC-46761 - If you have not, please use the search function in the future, to see if your bug has already been submitted. If you could not find the original report, please comment with the keywords you searched for.
Confirmed.