From my original Micronta, to my 2 Bounty Hunters and now my Garrett 2500 been searching for treasure for about 20 years now. Not all the time, not all that serious but there are certainly things that appeal to me about this hobby. It can be as cheap or expensive to enter as you wish. From $80 to $1300 just depends on what you want. What would I recommend to start? ...I would stay in the $100 to $250 range with a Garrett ACE 250, or maybe a Bounty Hunter Tracker 4. There are also great models by Minelab, Tesoro,Whites and more. Read the Forums and check the reviews. What else do you need...a pair of headphones to both cut down outside noise as well as save on battery life. You can get the big honking muff types like the old guys wear or you can get the lightweight,ipod types. Really depends on your comfort level and the amount of noise in the area you hunt (don't want to miss those faint signals).Your almost set...you gotta have some way to get your treasures out of the ground. I recommend a probe and a quality garden spade but there are hundreds of digging tools you can purchase. The probe will help you locate your target, I use a screwdriver with a rounded point, then use the spade to get to the goodies. One of the main etiquette rules in metal detecting is leave the place as good or better than you found it. Dig carefully, fill in all your holes and take the trash you dig (oh yea..u will dig some trash) out with you.
Look for my review on the Harbor Freight pinpointer ($14.99) coming up soon.UPDATE: Finally came in after about 3 months on back order. I can say that for the money...it's a good deal. Have used it on about 4 hunts so far and no issues to report. It's pretty accurate up to an inch or two and definitely saves you time and digging by narrowing down the area. Much easier to make the first cut, then run the pinpointer through and around the hole. You can usually find the target on the first pass. I recommend it ..even if you have to wait on Harbor Freight to deliver. You might try a local HF rather than the website you might accidentally find one there and avoid the wait altogether.