Recently, I attempted to collect a court awarded judgement . I was
told by the financial insitution I swept for funds that the only asset
the debtor had at that institution were ledger bonds. What are
"ledger" bonds?

Howdy duchessmary-ga,

First, we have to figure out what type of bonds are being referenced.
In this case, they are most probably United States (U.S.) savings
bonds.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt has
a web page titled "The Basics of Treasury Securities" that describes
U.S. savings bonds, as well as telling us about "ledger bonds."
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/of/ofbasics.htm

"What are U.S. savings bonds?

Savings bonds are Treasury securities that are payable only to the
person to whom they are registered. 
...
What types of savings bonds are available?

You can buy two types of savings bonds for cash: the Series EE bond
or the Series I bond."

Later in the same document we find out the answer to the "ledger"
part of the question.

"All Treasury securities are issued in what we call 'book-entry'
form -an entry in a central electronic ledger.
...
The commercial book-entry system is an indirect holding system where
you hold your securities with your financial institution, government
securities broker, or dealer."

The BondsOnline.com web site tells us about "book entry" bonds.
http://www.bondsonline.com/asp/trading/glossary.asp

"Book Entry - Electronic record of ownership of Treasury and agency
securities, as opposed to receipt of a security?s certificate."

So, the institution that you checked has an electronic ledger entry
for what is most probably Treasury securities in the form of U.S.
savings bonds in the debtor's name.  What they don't have are the
actual Treasury securities or bonds.

Here is a reference to "ledger bonds" in the above context, from a
EricvonWade.com message board.
http://ericvonwade.com/community/display.asp?post_id=12011&board=1&board_name=General

"... I skim a small amount of my income each month into the market,
and another small portion into I/EE ledger bonds."

If you need any clarification, please feel free to ask.

Search strategy:

Google search on: "ledger bonds"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22ledger+bonds%22

Google search on: EE ledger bonds
://www.google.com/search?q=EE+ledger+bonds

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

Much thanks for the 5 star rating and nice tip, duchessmary-ga.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher