Depending on the year, the value of the alloy in one 5 cent coin may be worth as much as $1.71. Current nickle coins Don't have much nickle in them and are actually worth only about .8 of face value.
Pennies, depending on the year and therefore the actually copper content, may be worth nearly double face value.
NOTE: I refer only to the value of the actual metal in the coin. This ignores any collector value, that even debased coins may have.
ref: http://coinapps.com/copper/penny/calculator/
Nickels always have good value to content ratio. Same with pre 1982 copper Lincoln cents. You get $100 worth of nickels in a box, weighs ~22 pounds, never worth less than $100 (unless dollar dies, in which case the base metal is probably way up in value) and they’re next to impossible to steal because of weight.
Right now $100 box is around $80-85 in melt value. Few years back it was ~$110-120...