What you shopuld expect to pay for a Metal Detector
In this pricing guide we give the list and expected retail prices of the most popular Metal Detectors models and a brief few sentences about the model. We provide links to full reviews of the Metal Detector if we have one so you can check it out in more detail if you like. The prices will change over time but this should give you a good starting estimate of both the relative price and capability of the difgferent detectors liste dhere. The guide is grouped by By
- Children's Detectors (Toys Essentially),
- Beginners Detectors
- Hobbyist Class
- Mid price Detectors
- and Advanced or professional class Metal Detectors..
- Many of the detectors listed have a link to a full review – even some of the childrens detectors!
If it has a link the Name of the Metal Detector will appear in blue, underlined. Just click on the name of the detector to go to the review page!
Childrens Detector Guide
Childrens Metal Detectors listed here will find metal (including coins and Jewelry and junk) under ground. But they lack the durability and advanced features of the other classes of metal detectors. Generally they do not "Discriminate" between junk and treasure very well> but most kids don't mind as they are digging for treasure.
| Detector Name | List Price | Expected Retail Price | Notes |
Wild Planet Kid Quest Metal Detector | $19.99 | $17.50 | Simple. Works well. No settings to mess with. |
Treasure Cove Kid's Metal Detector (Model: TC-1002) | $79.99 | $49 – $69 | Simple. No settings. Really does work. |
Bounty Hunter Jr. Metal Detector BHJS | $96 | $50 – $75 | Has a Meter and discrimination setting. So it lets kids filter out some of the junk and tells them via the meter if they have found something worth digging. |
Bounty Hunter TK4-PL Tracker IV Metal Detector | $129 | $99 | This has better junk discrimination, better sound and will use earphones. really at the start of the beginners class but the price makes it qualify as a kids detector. |
Beginners Metal Detectors
Beginners Metal Detectors listed here are more featured then the ones in the childrens class. generally they will have a few more controls, they will have better discrimination for eliminating Junk. They are a little more durable and will find treasure buried deeper in the ground then the childrens detectors.
But they are not as full featured as the hobby class detectors, do not go as deep and do not do as good of a job of telling you what you may have found under the ground as the hobby class. Hence the term "Beginners Metal Detector".
| Detector Name | List Price | Expected Retail | Notes |
| Teknetics Alpha 2000 Metal Detector Review | Not sure | $199 | Full featured. # tone ID and LCD screen. See review for more |
| Fisher F2 Metal Detector | $249 | $199 | Real nice Beginners Detector. with Target ID, Depth ID and much more See the review. |
| Garrett Ace 150 Metal Detector | $179 | $150 | I am a huge fan of the Ace 150,250 and 350 detectors. At $150 this is a great deal. It has a great LCD screen loaded with info about the target you are finding before you dig.Click the link to see the review. |
| Garrett Ace 250 Metal Detector | $249 | $212 | A step up from the ACE 150. Really at the edge of the hobby class. Some pro features are included. See the review. |
Price of Hobby Class Metal Detectors
Hobby Class Metal Detectors listed here are what you buy if you want to get into the hobby or step up from the beginners. In this class you will get Durable metal detectors meant for every day use. Capable of finding coins and jewelry, gold and silver down to 8 inches or so underground. Some are waterproof or water resistant.
All are made by trusted manufacturers and can be repaired by them if broken. They are designed to hunt treasure from the beach to the mountains and can handle the different soil conditions.
There are many many detectors made in this class and price range ($200 – $500). We have included a broad scale.
| Detector Name | List Price | Expected Retail | Notes |
| Garrett ACE 350 Metal Detector | $349 | $297 | Read the review. A solid value at this price point and competitive with detectors costing $100 – $150 more. One of My favorites |
| Fisher F4 Metal Detector | $499 | $399 | Fisher fanatics will hate me for this but I think this model is overpriced given the competition. Click the review of the F4 and ACE 350 and judge yourself |
| Whites Coinmaster Pro | $279 | $250 | Whites makes GREAT metal detectors and this is a solid model that is easy to use. EASY!!. and backed by White's great reputation – and made in the USA in Sweet Home Oregon. |
| Tesoro Silver Umax | $299 | $250 | The Tesoro is another Made in the USA brand. It has older styling and lacks some of the features of the other detectors listed here. Read the review for yourself. For my money I would choose one of the others. |
| Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505 Metal Detector | $499 | $250 | This replaces the Bounty Hunter Land Ranger and Land Star. A good detector but again the Whites, Garrets and Fisher are aheead of it in my opinion |
Minelab X-TERRA 305 Metal Detector | $499 | $399 | Minelab is highly regarded. I have never used one but have never heard a bad thing said about one except that they ARE NOT as easy to use as some of the others as you have more control and more options. |
| Fisher Gold Bug 2 Metal Detector | $599 | $499 | A highly regarded Gold metal detector designed and specialized to find gold! |
Mid priced (high end hobbyist and low end professional) Metal Detectors
Ok this gets wide open with fully water proof detectors, deep seeking detectors, specialized gold detectors, etc. All under $850. Thats are arbitrary cut off. Anything more and we are considering it a pro tool. For the serious hunter.
| Detector Name | List Price | Expected Retail | Notes |
| Garrett AT Pro | $699 | $599 | Wow. Great detector that happens to be waterproof to 10 feet underwater while still being a normal land detector. Read the review. Solid. A little heavy. But hard to go wrong with this one. |
| Whites MXT Metal Detector | $699 | $599 – $650 | Almost an industry standard. Works great. I will get a review of it on here in a while. Reminds me of my old Whites Eagle II. A great detector. BUT not waterproof like the AT PRO above. |
| Fisher 1280x Aquanaut Metal Detector | $799 | $679 | Water poof down to 250 feet below the surface. Really a pro underwater detector but the price point puts it in the Mid Point market. Planning on doing a lot of heavy surf or underwater detecting for treasure? This is for you. |
| Tesoro Deleon Metal Detector | $599 | $525 | Not in the class of the others here. Really a Hobby class that is overpriced. Sorry Tesoro Fans. |
| Minelab Xterra 505 Metal Detector | $695 | $550 | Again I do not know much about the MInelabs except that they are highly regarded. But i would do research before making my decision. |
| Fisher CZ-3D Metal Detector | $949 | $810 | This is designed specifically for targeting coin hunting and has a lot of improvements to enable it to find Coins better then many other detectors. Read the review for more. |
I will get to the Professional class detectors in a week or two. I think most people shopping for Pro class detectors that cost from $850 – $4000 know where to shop and what prices and features they are looking for so I am not in a rush to get that done yet.
OK thats it for this Price of Metal Detector Article!