This series contains items that outline information vital to the funding and operation of the Tontine Coffee-House, namely a constitution, and a list of shareholders and nominees. The bound volume listed comprises three different subjects, of which only the "Original plan" belongs in Series I. It provides an organizational framework for the tontine model and the administration of the association, which would later be finalized in printed copies of the Tontine Constitution also in this series. Printed in 1796, these copies also list shareholders and nominees. The Declarations of Trust officially acknowledge the transfer of power to newly elected trustees.

The series largely contains financial records documenting the daily operations of the Tontine Coffee-House. The boxes and folders contain financial records such as annual accounts payable statements, lists of shareholders with unpaid dividends, exchange of shares in the tontine, and vendor receipts. The bound volumes not only contain records concerning those subjects, but also dividend receipts and expenditures lists. Transfers are legal documents whereby a shareholder would officially trade his nominee with another party. In addition to loose papers, transfers can be found in volumes 2 and 3. Dividend receipts typically list the shareholder, his nominee, and the amount paid (or owed) to him, or some combination of the above. These can be located in volumes 4, 5, and 6 in addition to the loose papers. It should be noted that the bound volume 1 in Series I also contains dividend receipts. The receipts and expenditures come in numerous forms, from informal scribbling by a vendor on a scrap of paper, to detailed lists itemizing expenditures necessary to maintain all aspects of the Tontine Coffee-House. They can also be found in volumes 7 through 9.

The minutes of the Tontine Coffee-House summarize the matters of business discussed at a particular meeting. More minutes are included in volumes 1 and 4 in Series 1 and 2.

Real estate documents include deeds to the land where the Tontine Coffee-House stood, and letters and notes regarding the adjoining property (120 Water Street) and issues using common space. There are also lease agreements, lease proposals, and lease-related letters, particularly agreements with tenants Ebenezer Storer and Edward Bardin.

This series consists of an oversized ledger recording ship arrivals at the port of New York between 1812 and 1815, noting the vessel's name, captain, port of origin, days at sea and other relevant information. It also contains news about the progress of the War of 1812 and the British blockade of New York's port.

The series contains many letters of correspondence, including an invitation card for a dinner held at the Tontine Coffee-House in 1796 by the Lieutenant Governor and letters from James Bryden of Baltimore to John Ferrers (a leasee in the Coffee-House) in regards to subleasing a room in the building. Internal correspondence of note includes a committee report on inspecting the association's accounts, managerial orders to pay fees to patrons, a statement by the chairman announcing the reduction of nominees, and a letter by the trustees empowering Frederic de Peyster and William T. Horn as the Acting Committee to act in the interest of the tontine owners. External correspondence of note includes a partial letter to a historian researching the Tontine Coffee-House, letter from a shareholder inquiring about dividend payments, a letter regarding discrepancies in people on the dividend payroll, and a notification that a certain nominee is still living.

Legal documents include papers relating to heirs' claim to the share of George Bright Junior, and the last will and testament of Richard A. Varick. They also include a printed summons dated April 11, 1879, naming Frederic de Peyster and William T. Horn as plaintiffs relating to their claim to the Tontine Coffee-House as sole survivors of the tontine.