This effect gives text that looks like it was beaten out of goldnuggets. I like it because it works well with almost any kind of font,wide or thin.

Start by opening a new file, about 400 x 200 pixels, with a whitebackground and 16 million colors. Now add some blue text. I used TimesNew Roman, 60 pt. Be sure to leave the text selected.
 
 

Now go to the Image menu, Special Effects: Add Drop Shadow. Set theopacity to 90, the blur to 5, the shadow color to black, and the verticaland horizontal offsets to 3. Your selection marquis should now surroundthe text as well as the drop shadow.
 
 

Okay, here's where we get the 3D effect. First go to Selections:Defloat. You shouldn't really see any change here, but it makes a differencein the next step. Now in the Image Menu, go to Other:Emboss. Your imageshould now look like the one below.
 
 

Now to make it more golden, in the Color menu choose colorize. Setthe Hue to 40 and the saturation to 105.
 
 

To make the text a bit more 3D, and to add that bevelled gold look,use your Shape select tool to draw a rectangle around your text again.Set the foreground color to white, and then add a Hotwax coating.
 
 

This is just a bit dark. In the Color menu, choose Adust: Hue, Saturation,and Lightness. Set the Hue to 0, the saturation to 100, and the luminescenceto 40.
 
 

I think the text looks better if you sharpen it a bit, but that stepisn't absolutely necessary.
 
 

Thinner fonts give very good results as well. Here is the same effectdone with a script font.
 
 

To complete your work, save as a transparent GIF.