Good point about the font, JIK. It has the classic characteristics of Helvetica - the curly foot to the botton of the R, the dropped horizontal line of the A and the square(ish) head of the comma.

Although sans serif fonts have been widely used since the early 19th century, Helvetica wasn't developed until 1957 (Wiki), so you could well be right about it being a modern souvenier.

Still, sounds as if it could be worth checking with a dealer...

Pete