The Copper Panic of 1789 was a monetary crisis of the early United States that was caused by debasement and loss of confidence in copper coins that occurred under the presidency of George Washington. After the American Revolution, many states began minting their own coins largely in copper. At first the coins were widely accepted and their usage was rarely impeded, whereas several attempts by the British Empire to introduce new coins to the Americas were met with resistance. For several years there were high levels of confidence in these coins and knowledge that they were a high quality copper.