Here’s another sign that the financial panic may be over: The U.S. Mint is no longer rationing sales of its gold and silver coins. Mint News Blog reports:

The news comes via a brief memorandum sent to authorized purchasers of US Mint bullion coins, which stated, “Effective immediately, the United States is lifting the allocation process. You may place your orders under the standard ordering procedures.”

Authorized purchasers are the wholesalers who can buy the coins directly from the Mint. They sell to dealers, who say that all forms of bullion were in high demand during the financial meltdown. The silver Eagle had been on allocation since April 2008, the gold version since August.

Clay Teague, office manager of St. Louis dealer Scotsman Coin, tells me that he can now get Eagles within a week to 10 days of placing an order, compared with three to six weeks at the height of the panic. “Demand seems to still be out there,” Teague said. “I’m taking orders all the time.”

Mint News says , though, that sales have fallen well below their peak levels:

Sales of Silver Eagle bullion coins had risen to a peak of 3,132,000 ounces in March, before receding in April, and falling further in May to 1,904,500 ounces. Sales of Gold Eagle bullion coins had reached a peak of 147,500 ounces in April, before dropping to 65,000 in May. Notably, even the reduced sales figures from last month remain far above year over year and historical sales comparisons.

The Mint also has suspended sales of the coins’ proof and mint versions, which are popular with collectors. There’s no word on when those sales might resume.