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My girlfriend brought home a 1997 D from work at the local walmart. The penny looks like 43 steel penny, but is a zinc. Looks like the copper coating was never on it. Has anyone seen any of these and what kind of value would it have?

This could be a zinc-coated penny. With some zinc powder and a touch of chemistry magic, one can coat a regular penny in zinc, making it look like an uncirculated 1943 coin would. Check out this link for more info:

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/gold-pennies

You might try filing the rim down slightly to see if you catch a glimpse of copper. If it is zinc straight through, you might have yourself an interesting coin.

Copper is missing! lol I thought you lost your dog If I had a dog Copper would be his name

I scratched the back, and have no sign of copper anywhere. Now I have to go out and buy a dog.

The zinc on the chemistry experiment plated pennies wears off in a very short time, so I would bet you have an unplated penny.

I found an unplated 1993-d a few weeks ago. Sent it in to ANACS to be graded, looks to me like MS 62 or so. Value.....looks to be between $25 and $75.

doesn't coke do the same thing?

Yep, sounds like a coin error. Brings a premium on Ebay.