1853 Half Cent C-1

There is only one variety in 1853, C-1 or Cohen-1.

I wonder why they even bother with the type designation, then?

This is done to adhere to uniformity of designation as there are multiple varieties of other years..... if you look at one particular year and see that there are seven die varieties listed, but then you look at 1853, and see no variety designations listed, you might think that there are more, but nobody has figured out yet how many or what they are, and you would be left asking the question "Why are not the varieties for 1853 listed?"

While reference books and catalogs may refer to a variety as a type of coin easily recognizable (such as 'Draped Bust', 'Classic Head', "Braided Hair', 'large date, small date, wide date, inverted 9, stemless, etc), the C-1 designation refers to the specific die pair (obverse die and reverse die) that was used to strike this coin.... If, (for instance), there was another reverse die paired with this same obverse die, that would constitute a different die pairing and would likely be designated as C-2.