Glad to see that you are learning Sharran. It is better than just posting every piece of pocket change like some people and hoping that someone hear can find an error on it.
You can’t always tell the difference between zinc and copper but most of the time if you look at the fields (the surface), you will see that on zinc coins it has a more textured appearance and maybe even shows signs of plate bubbling. If you look at a copper coin, unless it has been damaged, you will find that the fields are smoother. The last coin posted is a good example of a zinc coin.