They're not worth that kind of money. They could be imposture STs (3 bar Indos). If you could provide pictures several people here could easily ID them exactly for you.
"Soon to be extinct" tigers would be ST, Siamese Tigers and they're essentially extinct in the wild. There are similar datnoids (CT, Cambodian/Controversial and VT, Vietnamese) who look very similar but seems to bring up debate when talked about and are not considered true Pulcher by most who keep tigers.
IT or Indonesian Tigers are the most common of them all and are sometimes hand picked to look like STs and then sold for "cheap" STs when really you're just getting scammed. ITs tend to have "oddball" patterns more often than other tigers so it's not uncommon to see one with a "Y" stripe pattern or 3 bars instead of the traditional 4.
NTT or Northern Thailand Tiger also known as Thinbars have 4 body bars like ST but they are clearly thinner, have a much less boxy body shape and are a different shade of gold.
NGT or New Guinea Tiger stands out the most in my opinion, they're black with yellow stripes which are very fuzzy looking. They are probably the most easily identified of all tigers.
AT or American Tiger/Silver Tiger is the only tiger that sometimes seems to need some level of salt in their water. They're usually a more silverish gold rather than the yellowish gold other tigers show. Also fairly easily identifiable.
I'm sure someone here can put the above information together a little more in depth and organized, or you could also follow this link to the Datnoid Identification Sticky:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?54277-Datnoid-ID-chart-(1-Viewing)
Here's a chart as well to help next time you're looking at tigers.
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And honestly unless this guy really legitimately believes these fish are what he's saying I wouldn't go back at all. If he knows better and is advertising them out like this then I wouldn't trust him on any other fish.
