The influence of free surface on melting and crystallization processes in nickel and copper was studied using molecular dynamics simulation. It was shown that crystallographic orientation of the surface and, accordingly, the energy of atoms on the surface affect the melting onset temperature of the simulated metal cell. The melting onset temperatures from the surface are arranged in the following order of increase for the considered orientations: (110), (112), (100), (111). When studying the formation of crystalline nuclei during gradual cooling from the molten state, it was found that most of the nuclei are formed near the surface. The orientation of the crystal structure in the nuclei near the surface in most cases was such that the crystalline plane (111) was formed on the surface, which is the most energetically favorable