I used to get an allergy on my fingers and - being allergic to nickel and believing it to be that - I went over to gold needles. They do reduce friction, but to be honest unless you pay through the nose for really high quality ones the gold wears off in no time.
My allergy has subsided a lot these days and Ive gone back to ordinary needles. I dont notice a lot of difference.
I have a couple of gold 28 needles that I keep around to work with silk. I may just be kidding myself but it seems like I have less trouble with the thread catching on the eye of the needle.
Ive bought gold needles because I was told they were better. Honestly, I have not noticed a difference. My suggestion is to grab a pack (if you catch them on sale - lol) and try them out for yourself. There are some stitchers who swear by gold needles.