This appears to be a ledger bug, but I am at a loss to explain it, so here goes:
The MPFR assertion failure is caused when I have both the following
transactions in my ledger:
2012/03/29 * (DD) Travel Reimburse
Expenses:Millennium:Travel $ -5495.49
;Trip: 2012-03-05 Ulm/Uberlingen
Assets:NFCU:Checking
2012/03/29 * (DD) Travel Reimburse
Expenses:Millennium:Travel $ -1653.05
;Trip: 2012-03-19 Santa Fe SC68
Assets:NFCU:Checking
If I delete either or both of them the error goes away.
If I isolate them in there own data file and run ledger -f on that
file everything works. If I remove them from my ledger and include
that individual data file the failure comes back.
Let me repeat: if I delete either or both of the transactions the
failure goes away. If both of them are in my ledger the MPFR
assertion error happens.
Now it gets even stranger. If I repeat both transactions in the
ledger, the error goes away.
I will keep troubleshooting.