According to the Kazakov reference "Coins of Nicholas II", there are two obverse designs for 1901. Both are possible for 1901-ФЗ, but 1901-AP has only the second obverse.

Here is the link to the eBay auction: L I N K

It looks to me like the first obverse. The hair and the distance from the point of the neck to the denticles give it away. What do you think?

You are correct; it is the first obverse. The easiest way of telling the two apart is to look at the first letter B in the legend. In the first variety the letter B is centered over a denticle. In the second, B is between two denticles.

RWJ

In other words, it cannot possibly be the rarer AR mintmaster?

Unlikely, but not impossible. I have seen perhaps 10 or 12 of the AR roubles, and all were of the second hub.

RWJ

Hi Bob,

Don't you think the seller meant "Ag" for silver?

Maybe this is what he meant -- those two letters are very close together on my keyboard. However, he makes the same mistake several times and writes "RAR(E)" in big letters, which is why I supposed he meant the rare mintmaster variety.

He never responded to my question, either. If he meant "Ag" then it would be easy enough to say so.

Hi Bob,

I finally got the answer from this guy regarding the 1901 rouble:

"Hallo,

ich hatte AP gemeint. Ist aber 03 .

""

Greetings,

Alexey

PS In English: "Hi, I meant AR. However, the rouble has FZ"

Thanks for the follow-up, Alexey!

Sometimes I wonder if a seller is just stupid, or is trying to fool someone ... I once won an eBay auction for a 1913-EB poltina which was advertised as such, but turned out to be the far more common BC variety. The 2x2 holder, pictured with the coin in the auction description, even had "ЭБ" written on it.

When it arrived, I noticed that the edge showed "(B.C)"! Without taking the coin out of the holder (fortunately the edge was visible), I took photos of the coin and the edge and sent them to the seller. He was apparently very embarrassed and gave me a full refund, including the cost of shipping.

(seller => )