Police detained Dr. Arnold-Peter Weiss at about 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 3 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City while he was attending the New York International Numismatic Convention.
BARRINGTON — Nayatt Road resident Dr. Arnold-Peter Weiss, a well-regarded hand surgeon and member of the Brown University medical school faculty, was charged early last month in a New York City criminal court with possession of stolen property in the second degree.
The alleged stolen property was an ancient Greek coin called a Tetradrachm that dates back to the 4th century BC.
According to records provided by the New York County District Attorney’s office, Dr. Weiss “knowingly possessed stolen property with a value in excess of $50,000 with intent to benefit a person” other “than an owner of the property and to impede recovery by an owner.”
Police detained Dr. Weiss, 51, at about 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 3 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City while he was attending the New York International Numismatic Convention. Dr. Weiss was reportedly attempting to sell two ancient coins; the Tetradachm was listed as Lot 1009 with a bid price of $300,000. Other news sources have reported that Dr. Weiss was also selling a silver decadrachm, listed as Lot 1008, with an opening bid of $2.5 million.
New York law enforcement worked with Captain Massimo Maresca of the Italian Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale, who said that Italy has “absolute and true ownership of all antiquities” found in that country after 1909.
An informant for the police reportedly said that the Tetradachm is property of the Italian government and that officials in that country never gave Dr. Weiss or anyone else permission to remove that coin from Italy.
According to the district attorney’s arrest report, an unnamed informant told police that Dr. Weiss had told him that for the Tetradachm “there’s no paperwork, I know this is a fresh coin, this was dug up a few years ago ... This was dug up two years ago. I know where this came from.” (The conversation was allegedly recorded.)
The arrest report, which was written by investigator John Freck of the New York County District Attorney’s Office, stated that Dr. Weiss told an investigator that he had purchased the coin in 2010, that it had been out of the ground for less than a year and that he had purchased the coin for $250,000 and was planning to sell it for approximately $350,000.
An article published on the website Coin World stated that Dr. Weiss is a partner in Nomos AG, a Zurich, Switzerland-based dealership of ancient coins. In that article, the director of Nomos AG, Alan Walker, said that “all the coins are in the U.S. legally. All of the coins left Europe legally. It was all handled 100 percent by the law, as far as we know.”
Dr. Walker was also quoted saying “He (Dr. Weiss) has very good legal counsel and is 100 percent innocent.”
According to its website, Nomos AG was founded in 1972 by Dr. Roland Maly who ran it until his death in 2005. After his death, the firm and its photo file of coins was acquired by Dr. Weiss, who continued the business.
A senior press officer for the district attorney’s office said the next court date for Dr. Weiss is scheduled for March 21.
Dr. Weiss did not return phone calls and e-mails for this story. Other family members declined an opportunity to comment.
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